BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ELECTRICITY
In general there are two types of electricity. The first on is DC or Direct Current such as any form of battery. Direct Current was invented by Thomas Edison in the late 1880’s.
But in 1887 Nikola Tesla invented Alternating Current which is the standard for most hom,e and industrial power today. We will focus on normal USA home AC power of 110 Volts and 60 Hertz. Voltage is the pressure pushing the power through the lines and hertz is the number of cycles (power moves in a sine wave shape) per second. For more in depth information Google this or check YouTube or other resources
STANDARD USA 110 Volt OUTLET
Wall power makes electricity available to people in the home through a standard USA receptacle as shown to the right. The standard for installation of outlets is shown in the image to the right but one may find other standards such a hospitals which may install the outlet upside down. But in general the hot power is delivered to the smaller hole as indicated in the photo. This is the power coming in from the electric company. The power goes to the device being powered and the returns on the neutral lead to return to the power company. The neutral lead is often larger than the hot lead to prevent people from inserting the plug with the wrong orientation in situations where this makes a difference. For devices with plugs having only two insertion leads the orientation does not matter. And for safety there is a round ground lead in the bottom of the receptacle as show in the photo to the right.
ELECTRICAL PLUGS
The best way to think of the locations of the points of contact of an electrical plus is to think back to the outlet and think about the prongs fitting into the outliet. So the plug is in your hand pointing away from you towards the outlet. The hot is on the upper right and the neutral is on the upper left. And finally the ground is the round hole in the bottom in the center.
ELECTRICAL WIRING
Normally the electrical wire should have 3 wires but for simpler electrical devices like lamps or devices that do not require a ground wire there may be only two wires. The “hot” wire is usually black but there are time that you might see brown, red, or another color. Most of the time the neutral wire is white. And the ground wire is usually either bar copper or a green wire.
