diff between ground and neutral

[pankaj waghmare]

HI,
Does anybody explain me the difference between ground and neutral. And why they are used and where?

 

[IanP]

All explained here:
https://www.answers.com/topic/ground-and-neutral
https://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/neutral_ground_separate.html

Regards,
IanP

 

[sanjiv]

Ground and neutral


Ground or earth in a mains (AC power) electrical wiring system is a conductor that exists primarily to help protect against faults and which in normal operation does not carry current.

The term "ground" is used in Canada and the U.S.; the term "earth" is used in most of the rest of the English-speaking world. They are used synonymously here.

Neutral is a circuit conductor that carries current in normal operation, and which is connected to earth.

In a polyphase or three-wire AC system, the neutral conductor is intended to have similar voltages to each of the other circuit conductors, and similar phase spacing. By this definition, a circuit must have at least three wires for one to serve as a neutral.
In the electrical trade, the conductor of a 2-wire circuit that is connected to the supply neutral point is also referred to as the "neutral". This is formally described in the US and Canadian electrical codes as the "identified" circuit conductor. If the entire system is only single phase then the current carrying conductor that is tied to earth is still a neutral by this definition.

 

[bjeservice]

ground : is a point which has a voltage level 0 as it is connected to ground connector by rods and wires,it has the value of
1-human safety
2-protection of equipement by connecting earth fault protection devices
3-protect the equipement from static charge generated from enviroment and lightning

the neutral gets its meaning from polyphase system as it is a common point in multiphase system it may contain a voltage level different from zero voltage as in earth point

 

[bauer]

Ground Prevents electrical hazards linke electric shock, Neutral provides return path of the current..

 

[lambtron]

In USA, 120VAC wiring systems in buildings are implemented as shown in the attached diagram. Please note that this is simplified because it is only intended to show the differences between ground and neutral.

A grounding rod is used to connect the "electric service" (a box with circuit breakers or fuses) to earth ground. 120VAC line power comes into the electric service from the left side of the drawing. As you can see, the line neutral is shorted to earth ground inside the service.

There are three connections to the load. From top to bottom they are Hot, which supplies 120VAC to the load, Neutral, which carries 120VAC return current, and Ground, which is connected to any exposed conductive surfaces.

When the circuit breaker contact is closed and the load is turned on, AC current flows from line hot through the breaker, into the load hot, out of load neutral to the bus bar, and then out to line neutral. There is no load current flowing through the load ground conductor; this is simply bonded to the frame of the load appliance if there is any exposed metal.

So, the difference between ground and neutral is this:

load current flows through neutral, but in normal operation, no load current will ever flow through ground.

 

[mmike]

Ground ::


1. An electrical connection to earth. The part directly in contact with the earth (the earth electrode) can be as simple as a metal (usually copper) rod or stake driven into the earth, or a connection to buried metal water piping. Or it can be a complex system of buried rods and wires. The resistance of the electrode-to-earth connection determines its quality, and is improved by increasing the surface area of the electrode in contact with the earth, increasing the depth to which it is driven, using several connected ground rods, increasing the moisture of the soil, improving the conductive mineral content of the soil, and increasing the land area covered by the ground system. This type of ground applies to radio antennas and to lightning protection systems.
2. In a mains (AC power) wiring installation, the grounding is the wire that carries currents away under fault conditions. This power ground grounding wire is (directly or indirectly) connected to one or more earth electrodes. These may be located locally, be far away in the suppliers network or in many cases both. This grounding wire is usually but not always connected to the neutral wire at some point and they may even share a cable for part of the system under some conditions. The ground wire is also usually bonded to pipework to keep it at the same potential as the electrical ground during a fault. Water pipes often used to be used as ground electrodes but this was banned in some countries when plastic pipe became popular.
3. In an electrical circuit operating at signal voltages (usually less than 50 V or so), a common return path that is the zero voltage reference level for the equipment or system. This signal ground may or may not actually be connected to a power ground. A system where the system ground is not actually connected to earth is often referred to as a floating ground.
4. An electrical connection to the inside surface of a Faraday cage. Any excess charges deposited on the inner surface of a Faraday cage will migrate to the outer surface of the cage, where they can produce no electric fields within the enclosure. For this reason, the inside surface of a Faraday cage behaves like an infinite sink for electrical charge from the perspective of objects within. Even if the Faraday cage itself is not connected to the Earth, the inner surface of the cage can be used in place of an earth connection.
5. A ground conductor on a lightning protection system used to dissipate the strike into the earth.


Nuetral::

A neutral wire is one of the “live” wires in electrical cables, which returns low energy electricity back to the breaker panel; the neutral wire is white (or blue in the UK) and insulated.