What Is The Third Prong On Electrical Plugs For?
Wow!…that’s a long title. I remember working as a carpenter in my younger years and breaking off the third prong on my extension cords to fit two prong plugs. It never shocked me so I thought why even add a third prong to power cords. – This post is for all you ‘lucky’ construction workers that have worked with metal tools and not been lit up at least one time (with electricity). The third prong was added to electrical outlets and cords around the 70’s and 80’s for safety reasons. Grounding provides a quick path for stray electricity to go in the case of a Hot wire short to the chassis, frame, or any other conducting part of an electrical item. Electricity follows the path of least resistance, for example: A human is usually 10000 ohms of resistance, a copper ground line is going to be around 0 – 5 ohms. The low resistance of the copper is going to provide a way for the electricity to run back to the grounding strip (instead of through the person) therefore causing high amps and trippi
