Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!pacbell!sactoh0!americ!erk
From: erk@americ.UUCP (Erick Parsons)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Polarized Plugs
Message-ID: <0626.AA0626@americ>
Date: 9 Jun 89 23:25:45 GMT
Followup-To: sci.electronics
Distribution: usa
Lines: 19


><What is the point of 2-pronged polarized electrical plugs?  (The kind
><where one prong is wider than the other.)  It seems to me that the only
><difference in "signal" between the two prongs is a 1/120 second phase
><shift.  It is a rare gadget indeed to which this matters.
><John Oswalt (..!sun!megatest!jao)

In all likelihood (sp?) it is to keep the hot wire as completely isolated
from the frame of say.. a toaster, or any appliance that could be used
around a sink or tub or ? Remember that the neutral wire is the big prong
ALWAYS, and is common to the service ground at the service entrance panel.
If the wires were switched the frame of this toaster could be for some
reason further from ground potential and become a shock hazard should some
poor soul grab the toaster and the faucet at the same time.

--
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  Erick Parsons    //    Words for the wise:   *If it works don't fix it.*
  Sacramento Ca   //        mail to:   ...pacbell!sactoh0!americ!erk
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