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Earth ground, in many cases - is used as a reference. The potential of a conductor who is directly connected to Earth Ground has a very low, consistant potential. It is used to help "define the electrical potential of conductors RELATIVE to the Earth's potential."
A protective earth or P.E., is used to provide a path for current flow to prevent an end user from becoming exposed to a live component or conductor, mostly due to failing insulators (IE a short circuit melting a piece of insulation, exposing a live conductive wire that is in contact with the enclosure of a product - in which the user may be in contact with). The entire purpose of the PE is to provide a barrier between the end user and the live conductors to prevent shock hazard.
The purpose of earth ground, is to provide a constant reference potential for other conductors.
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JordanProtective earth is a conductor intended to dissipate current in a fault condition to prevent electric shock, while ground can refer to any reference point for electrical potential. In some contexts, ground and protective earth may be interconnected, but they have different functions and purposes in electrical systems.
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