Capricious wrote:

Hi, I just bought a cool used hanging ceiling light fixture, but the
wires coming out of the fixture are confusing. There are two covered
wires and one naked copper one. I assume the copper wire is the
ground, but the two other wires are both white. How can I tell which
is connected to the house's hot wire, and which to neutral?

I've seen the reverse of this question here, where both house wires
are the same color, and I know you'd use a voltage meter in that
situation, but with no power to the light fixture, how can I be sure
to hook it up correctly?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

If these two wires are plastic webbed cord ("lamp cord" or "zip cord"), one
of the wires will have some small ribs and the other will be smooth. If the
lamp was wired correctly the ribbed wire is the neutral and goes to the
white supply conductor.

If you have an ohmmeter, that is a more reliable test, as already described.
You'd be amazed how often fixtures, including new ones, are wired wrong.

--
Best Regards
Anthony Straight
http://dotznize.com/electric

This posting is an opinion only. The reader must use his own judgment and
assume any risk for following or ignoring my advice.