Neutral earth or ground

The neutral conductor is a current carrying conductor, effectively the power return for each of the
hot conductors in a circuit. In systems where the load is supplied from only one hot (or "live") wire,
the neutral completes the circuit and carries current back from the load to the power station.

Earth" or "ground" wire normally carries no current. Its purpose is to provide an emergency path for
current if ever there is any accidental contact between a hot wire and the external (or internal)
metal parts of any electrical device which a user may be able to touch. The ground conductor is not
intended to pass current except in a fault condition, and then only long enough to trip the protective
device. It is typically connected to the frame of an appliance.

COLOR CODES FOR (INSULATION) OF CABLES FOR THEIR IDNTIFICATION IN AC CIRCUITS (BOTH SINGLE-PHASE AND THREE-PHASE)

S.No. Description of Cable Old New Color Marking

Color

1 Phase 1 of single-phase or three-phase Red Brown L1

AC circuit

2 Phase 2 of three-phase AC circuit Yellow Black L2

3 Phase 3 of three-phase AC circuit Blue Grey L3

4 Neutral of single-phase or three-phase Black Blue N

AC circuit

5 Earth Green Green and E

and Yellow
Yellow

RMS voltage and current

The term RMS, ONLY refers to time-varying periodic sinusoidal voltages, currents or waveforms
where the magnitude of the waveform changes over time and is not used in DC circuit analysis or
calculations were the magnitude is always constant.//(5 volts DC is 5 volts constantly, viewed over
time. The average voltage is 5 volts.5 volts AC (from zero to peak) is not actually 5 volts constantly,
but varies between 5 volts and 0 volts over time. The average voltage will not be 5 volts.Using RMS
AC values is designed to make AC and DC measurements equivalent, for example 5 volts DC and 5
volts RMS AC are almost identical.)

..the root-mean-square (RMS) value of an alternating voltage is the equivalent d.c. voltage that can
deliver the same amount of energy to a resistor as the a.c. does over a cycle.For a pure Sine wave,
r.m.s voltage = 0.707 x peak voltage. the RMS value of voltage produces an RMS current which

dissipates power at the same rate as a DC current of the same value

.The RMS voltage, which can also be referred to as the effective value, depends on the magnitude of
the waveform and is not a function of either the waveforms frequency nor its phase angle. For
example, the domestic mains supply in the United Kingdom is 240Vac. This value is assumed to
indicate an effective value of “240 Volts RMS”. This means then that the sinusoidal RMS voltage
from the wall sockets of a UK home is capable of producing the same average positive power as 240
volts of steady DC voltage as shown below.

RMS voltage (VRMS) as being “the square root of the mean of the square of the mid-ordinates of the
voltage waveform” and this is given as:

And for our simple example above, the RMS voltage will be calculated as:

RMS Voltage Equivalent

The average value of a whole sinusoidal waveform over one complete cycle is zero as the two halves
cancel each other out. The average current flowing through an element in an AC circuit is zero.
 Prof:

The average voltage, like the current, is also zero.

The average voltage (VAV) of a sinusoidal waveform is determined by multiplying the peak voltage
value by the constant 0.637, which is two divided by pi (π).

The mean value is defined for half time period and not for full time period as in case of rms
value as discussed

Average Voltage and RMS Voltage.can be used to represent the “Form Factor” of a sinusoidal
alternating waveform.

Form factor is defined as being the shape of an AC waveform and is the RMS voltage divided by the
average voltage (form factor = rms value/average value).

So for a sinusoidal or complex waveform the form factor is given as: ( π/(2√2) ) which is exactly equal
to the constant, 1.11.
Nominal Voltage
Nominal voltage is the voltage by which a system is designated. It is just the named voltage.Nominal
voltage is the recommended voltage given by manufacture when operating a certain type of
equipment or appliances. For example, the rms value of the nominal supply voltage in UK is:
1. 230 Vac (single-phase, line-to-neutral or phase-to-neutral)
2. 400 Vac (three-phase, line-to-line or phase-to-phase)
But, it is not necessarily the actual voltage at a particular time. A nominal voltage is normally expressed
together with a percentage by which it is permitted (allowed) to vary from the stated value. According
to this criterion, the above voltages can now be expressed as:
3. 230 Vac ± 10% ⟹ means that the actual supply voltage can vary between the
limits of 207 Vac and 253 Vac
4. 400 Vac ± 10% ⟹ means that the actual supply voltage can vary between the
Limits of 360Vac and 440Vac