wrote in message
oups.com...
Rich,

Not that I would do this (AND I RECOMMEND NO ONE ELSE DO THIS EITHER),
but does that mean that when replacing a switch or an outlet, that I
could turn the power back on and touch the NEUTRAL (white) wire and not
receive a shock?

If the outlet is wired correctly you could touch the Neutral (usually white)
while grounded and not get shocked. The Neutral is suspose to be grounded
back at the service entrance/panel box.

To answer your question above, the electricity does not actually come out of
the black wire and return on the white wire. That is just simple thinking
to make it easy to explain the circuit.

In most homes in the US there are 3 wires comming in. There are 2 hot wires
and one neutral. There are 240 volts across the two Hot wires and 120 volts
from the neutral and either hot wire. If only 240 volt devices are used
then there is no need for the neuteral wire. If you start adding 120 volt
devices , some on one side and some on the other side then the current will
be unbalanced on the hot wires and the neuteral will have some current on
it. If you could put the same current load on each side of the two circuits
then there would again bo no current flow on the neutral wire and it could
be disconnected and the devices would continut to work normally.