AC POWER PLUGS AND SOCKETS (THEORY)
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Welcome to the home’s electrical systems course by NPR Online Technologies!
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In this theoretical lesson, we will address the main aspects concerning the alternating current power plugs and sockets.
Power sockets represent another fundamental component of the electrical system. Their main task is to provide the necessary electrical power to the equipment connected to them. The socket is directly connected to the neutral and hot wire of the electrical system and therefore allows direct access to these two conductors.
Any electrical or electronic equipment designed to work with the alternating current of the electrical system is connected to the socket
by means of an electric plug.
In this way we have access to the neutral and hot conductors of the electrical system. It is observed that the neutral and hot conductors are available at the two extreme holes of the socket.
Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, size, and connector type. Different standard systems of plugs and sockets are used around the world.
We can see that there are types with a central contact for a connection to earth.
The central contact, allows then the connection to the ground system. We have seen, in a previous lesson, that for safety reasons, electrical and electronic equipment also require the use of the protective cable and for this reason the power sockets must allow the equipment connected to them to access the ground system.
It is intended to protect against insulation failure of the connected device. For more details, we recommend that you study the lesson on the grounding system and protection devices.
It is evident that the connection of the wires in the electric plug must respect the position of the hot, neutral, and protection wires.
For this reason the protection cable must be connected to the central contact of the plug.
It should be noted that not all electrical plugs are equipped with three pins,
for some appliances, in fact, the electrical plug does not have a central tip. This generally happens for those equipment for which there is no risk of accidentally coming into contact with parts powered at high voltage and for this reason it is not necessary to connect to the earth system.
Well, we have also come to the end of this lesson dedicated to the alternating current power plugs and sockets.
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