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Ground can be a confusing term, as it can have two separate meanings.

Here's one way: Conventionally, the ground of a circuit is the return line for the current. If you have a battery hooked up to a resistor, then the "positive" side of the battery terminal, the side that carries positive voltage, is the "hot" side, and the other side that completes the circuit back to the negative terminal of the batter is "ground." That said, ground is technically anywhere in the circuit you want it to be. Ground is what the designer of the circuit decides is 0 volts, and every other voltage is relative to ground.

Another use for the term "ground" is the safety measure built into our electrical system, now. It's a short circuit to the Earth so that if something in your circuit breaks down, the extra, potentially dangerous current, can flow directly to the Earth, and not build up dangerous charges in the machine, etc. The bottom hole of your wall outlets is this safety ground.

But, to restate what I said above: In terms of the circuit, ground is technically what you define to be 0 volts.

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14y ago
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13y ago

If the circuit is not grounded, you could become the ground if there is a failure that results in the hot side of the system coming in contact with a metal case of an appliance, for example. When the appliance is grounded properly then if the hot wire came into contact with a metal case that was grounded, the breaker would trip.

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11y ago

If you are talking about earthing, then ive got an answer for u.

The earth is at zero potential so when we connect a plate to the earth, it gets transferred and becomes neutral, thats why it is required.

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Q: What is the function of the ground in a circuit?
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