Please, good and knowledgeable people here, explain to me how an ac electrical 'presence' can discharge into the earth.
Let me give examples:
1. In order to protect oneself from a hot metal case as of an old washing machine, a wire is bolted to the case and fastend to a metal rod struck into the ground like on steel plumbing pipes, so that instead of electricity getting to you it will discharge to the earth.
2. To obtain half of a say 220 ac volts source (I live in a place where the house current is ac 220 volts), attach one wire to the 110 ac volts appliance and the other wire from this appliance to a steel pipe as in the ground plumbing struck to the ground.
3. An arc welding machine transformer uses only one wire, the other wire is attached to a piece of metal like in the iron gate of the property wall.
Any explanations for a simple layman?
Is the earth then some kind of a substitute for the other terminal of an ac current generator?
gerry
