What happens to the voltage/current on the neutral wire?

[James1985]

If we had 4 appliances to power, one in every room of a house, Once the current passes through them all, the remaining voltage & current is said to "pass back to the source via the neutral wire"

Is this an accurate mental model?
From what I see, most Neutral wires are somewhere down the line connected to earth... be it at the transformer, or the earthing rods connected to ground after the transformer and on the way to residential properties... etc....

In this case, Wouldnt any remaining voltage and current end up going to ground, as the energy wants the smoothest/least resisistive pathway to ground?

Im also having difficulty wondering how the direction of the current is chosen on the neutral wire, if we had say 1 main neutral wire and 20 different homes all eventually connecting to it, what determines the direction the electrons take on that wire?
IE Why wouldnt the power from house A flow into the Neutral wire of House B?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

the energy wants the smoothest/least resisistive pathway to ground?

No, it doesn't. The current (not the energy) wants to return to the same transformer winding that launched it down the line wire to begin with.

The transformer in the substation produces a potential difference between the line and neutral, and current will take all possible paths (not just the easiest / lowest resistance one) from the line to the neutral. Some will flow through appliance 1, some through appliance 2, etc as they are all wired in parallel. But all current will flow from line at the transformer to neutral at the transformer because that is where the potential difference is produced that drives it through the resistance.

The fact that the earth is connected at all is simply a safety precaution. Circuits would work just fine with no earth connection, in which case no current would ever flow to earth because it would not form part of a circuit. We deliberately make it part of a public supply circuit, and current will flow into it, but only as a route back to the transformer neutral. It's not a magical thing that gobbles up current, just another conductor in parallel with the neutral.

 

[davesparks]

If we had 4 appliances to power, one in every room of a house, Once the current passes through them all, the remaining voltage & current is said to "pass back to the source via the neutral wire"

You need to start out learning the basic science before getting to grips with anything more complex. You should look to learn about voltage, current and resistance and their relationship along with series and parallel circuits.
Voltage doesn't go anywhere, voltage is a measure of the electrical potential energy between two points.

Current however does flow through the conductors and the load.

The amount of current that flows is dependant upon the voltage and the resistance.
If you have a resistance of 10ohms and put 12 Volts across it 1.2 Amps will flow through it, if you increase the voltage to 24 Volts then 2.4 Amps will flow through it.

 

[davesparks]

if we had say 1 main neutral wire and 20 different homes all eventually connecting to it, what determines the direction the electrons take on that wire?

This is one of those topics where you shouldn't try to run before you can walk, what happens with multiple houses in a street is more complex than a simple circuit and you really need to understand the basic science first.

IE Why wouldnt the power from house A flow into the Neutral wire of House B?

Because it didn't come from house B, it came from the substation, so it goes back to the substation.

 

[James1985]

Is this a correct view?

If we had a square shaped circuit, and voltage read 24v at anypoint on this circuit, if we connected another 5 of the same square shapes, joined them at ANY point on the circuit, and then measured at random points, the voltage would still be 24v at any position.

However, current isn't ubiquitously passed around the circuit like voltage is?

 

[IAmSparkytus!]

“Ubiquitously”. Cracking word.

 

[snowhead]

Is this a correct view?

If we had a square shaped circuit, and voltage read 24v at anypoint on this circuit, if we connected another 5 of the same square shapes, joined them at ANY point on the circuit, and then measured at random points, the voltage would still be 24v at any position.

However, current isn't ubiquitously passed around the circuit like voltage is?

As Davesparks said, Get to grips with the basics, you are more likely to get confused about the whole subject otherwise.

At the moment you are trying to fly Concorde when you can't even walk.

Either that or this is a wind up / attempt at trying to get the largest number of posts on a thread as similar theads have been.

Given what's happened elsewhere in the World, then this could also be a Chinese A.I learning exercise.

 

[DPG]

Is this a correct view?

If we had a square shaped circuit, and voltage read 24v at anypoint on this circuit, if we connected another 5 of the same square shapes, joined them at ANY point on the circuit, and then measured at random points, the voltage would still be 24v at any position.

However, current isn't ubiquitously passed around the circuit like voltage is?

The problem is that you are looking for a voltage 'at' a certain point. This is not how a circuit works - voltage is the difference in potential between two points, and it happens when current is flowing.

Draw your theoretical circuit out and indicate which two points you want to know what voltage is across.

 

[davesparks]

Is this a correct view?

If we had a square shaped circuit, and voltage read 24v at anypoint on this circuit, if we connected another 5 of the same square shapes, joined them at ANY point on the circuit, and then measured at random points, the voltage would still be 24v at any position.

The shape of the circuit doesn't matter, what matters is how the conductors and loads are connected.

However, current isn't ubiquitously passed around the circuit like voltage is?

Current flows through a circuit, voltage is a measure of the potential energy between two points in the circuit.

 

[James1985]

As Davesparks said, Get to grips with the basics, you are more likely to get confused about the whole subject otherwise.

At the moment you are trying to fly Concorde when you can't even walk.

Either that or this is a wind up / attempt at trying to get the largest number of posts on a thread as similar theads have been.

Given what's happened elsewhere in the World, then this could also be a Chinese A.I learning exercise.

Im trying to get to grips with the subject, thats why I am making these posts...

 

[James1985]

The problem is that you are looking for a voltage 'at' a certain point. This is not how a circuit works - voltage is the difference in potential between two points, and it happens when current is flowing.

Draw your theoretical circuit out and indicate which two points you want to know what voltage is across.

I will draw the circuit to illustrate the part im stuck with.
however for now, it was an analogy, Im aware Voltage is measured between two points.

The purpose of the post was to ask if the view is correct that, if we was to change the shape and length of the same circuit, the voltage will still be 24v.

However with neutral, the shape the circuit takes can effect the outcome.

 

[davesparks]

I will draw the circuit to illustrate the part im stuck with.
however for now, it was an analogy, Im aware Voltage is measured between two points.

The purpose of the post was to ask if the view is correct that, if we was to change the shape and length of the same circuit, the voltage will still be 24v.

However with neutral, the shape the circuit takes can effect the outcome.

The physical shape of the circuit is pretty much irrelevant at DC or normal mains frequency AC. The shape of the circuit becomes relevant at radio frequencies and higher.

 

[davesparks]

Im trying to get to grips with the subject, thats why I am making these posts...

That is good, and we do encourage questions and learning here. But you do need to start with the basics and get a good understanding of simple circuits first.