I'm in a bind

[logophore]

Hi I'm a general contractor, just replacing a switch in a relatives home. I have decent electrical understanding. I am trying to hook back up a simple porch light, but since the hot is on white, and neutral on black, I thoroughly tested it out and came up with a very strange result. i know I must be missing something simple because this is going to be a very very stupid sounding question.

When the breaker is on, I get 120v on the white, measured to ground. I also get .3 ohms on the black, measured to ground (ie it is the neutral). The problem is, when the breaker is off, if I measure ohms from hot (white) to ground, it comes in at about 10ohms. AND YET, I can turn the breaker on, and it does not trip. How can this be. I am working with a cheap HF multimeter because I've been loath to replace it since my Klein got stolen

Thanks in advance for your patience with my ignorance

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[Dennis Alwon]

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