According to DIY Network

[petersonra]

Referring to house wiring...

The black wire is positive, the white wire is negative, and the green wire is ground.

 

[celtic]

Re: According to DIY Network

Referring to house wiring...

The black wire is positive, the white wire is negative, and the green wire is ground.

Even on 240v circuits?
Wow...I feel stoopid.

 

[Towzzer]

I'm sure they are trying to be as simple as possible

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

They are half right :wink:

 

[macmikeman]

They are half right

No Jim, they are 1/3 right. The green wire is ground.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

They are half right :wink:

Or, they are right 1/2 the time?

 

[electricman2]

They are half right :wink:

Jim is right. Every half cycle black will be positive and white will be negative. 8)

 

[dlhoule]

They are half right :wink:

Jim is right. Every half cycle black will be positive and white will be negative. 8)

Now I would say they are right almost half the time. When both wires are at O Volts there is no positive or negative.

 

[memyselfandI]

I am sure they are trying to come down to the level of some people who want to do there own "lectricity" but I truly believe that if they want it done correctly, hire a professional to do it. I watch those shows to get a good chuckle once in a while.

 

[charlie b]

Now I would say they are right almost half the time. When both wires are at O Volts there is no positive or negative.

But the zero points are mere points in time. Just as a point in space has neither length nor breadth nor depth, a point in time has no duration. So the total time the voltage is positive is precisely 50% of the time the circuit is energized, and the total time the voltage is negative is precisely the other 50%. 8) :wink: :lol:

 

[petersonra]

I am sure they are trying to come down to the level of some people who want to do there own "lectricity" but I truly believe that if they want it done correctly, hire a professional to do it. I watch those shows to get a good chuckle once in a while.

I find it ironic that in many cases they are forced to hire local contractors (probably to comply with local rules about who can do what work) but advocate DIY to HOs.

 

[dnem]

I am sure they are trying to come down to the level of some people who want to do there own "lectricity" but I truly believe that if they want it done correctly, hire a professional to do it. I watch those shows to get a good chuckle once in a while.

If they're trying to come down to the level of some people, wouldn't it make more sense to call the wires "hot" and "neutral". Even for the uneducated, I think this would be more understandable than positive and negative.

Everybody knows what happens if they stick their hand under a hot faucet and they know what it means when their car is in neutral.

David

 

[dlhoule]

Charlie, When that point comes up 60 x per sec, IMO over a 24 hour period that point in the cycle would take some time even if miniscule.

 

[charlie b]

You can have a nearly infinite number of points in time, and they will still not add up to any duration of time. Maybe we should send this question in to the DIY network. :lol: :lol:

 

[celtic]

As I was walking down the street one day
A man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was
on my watch, yeah
And I said
Does anybody really know what time it is
Does anybody really care
If so I can't imagine why
about time
.....

 

[ceknight]

You can have a nearly infinite number of points in time, and they will still not add up to any duration of time.

It's worse than that, actually. You can have an uncountably infinite number of points in time that don't add up to any duration.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Now I would say they are right almost half the time. When both wires are at O Volts there is no positive or negative.

But the zero points are mere points in time. Just as a point in space has neither length nor breadth nor depth, a point in time has no duration. So the total time the voltage is positive is precisely 50% of the time the circuit is energized, and the total time the voltage is negative is precisely the other 50%. 8) :wink: :lol:

Cant we agree that it is actually 49.9999999999999999999% of the time positive

 

[celtic]

Now I would say they are right almost half the time. When both wires are at O Volts there is no positive or negative.

But the zero points are mere points in time. Just as a point in space has neither length nor breadth nor depth, a point in time has no duration. So the total time the voltage is positive is precisely 50% of the time the circuit is energized, and the total time the voltage is negative is precisely the other 50%. 8) :wink: :lol:

Cant we agree that it is actually 49.9999999999999999999% of the time positive

Why not 50.0000000000000000001%?

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Now I would say they are right almost half the time. When both wires are at O Volts there is no positive or negative.

But the zero points are mere points in time. Just as a point in space has neither length nor breadth nor depth, a point in time has no duration. So the total time the voltage is positive is precisely 50% of the time the circuit is energized, and the total time the voltage is negative is precisely the other 50%. 8) :wink: :lol:

Cant we agree that it is actually 49.9999999999999999999% of the time positive

Why not 50.0000000000000000001%?

Because for .000000000000000000.1 % of the time no cyrrent is flowing positive or negative

 

[dlhoule]

Cant we agree that it is actually 49.9999999999999999999% of the time positive

No, because it is actually 49.9999999999999999999% of the time negative.