On 5 Oct 2005 01:21:04 -0700, "blackboab" wrote:

The LIVE and NEUTRAL wires are both passing current and the current is
reversing at 50 times a second so that they swap over the roles of
positive and negative.

er..sort of.

can i get electrocuted by holding the NEUTRAL ?

Yes. See above.


a circuit only needs two wires to be complete.

?


so how does the third wire - ground - fit in the circuit ?

Electricity is generated three-phase:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_phase
(for various reasons including efficiency)

and then for domestic supply you get one of the three live conductors,
and the neutral:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-...electric_power

The ground connector is for safety only - it's carried round the house
and connected to various bits of exposed metal, including those that
are part of your electrical equipment. If then you have a fault in
some device where live becomes connected to these same bits of
exposed metal, a large current briefly flows to ground and your
fuse/MCB/whatever pops, cutting off the circuit.

C