Electricity question

[JohnCU]

Let's say you have a voltmeter, and have the positive test lead touching the positive end of a battery, and the negative plugged into the neutral socket of a wall outlet. Why does it not read the voltage of the battery? Voltage is relative from point to point, and the wall should be at 0, and the battery should be 1.5 V, so it should read 1.5 V shouldn it?

 

[HappyPuppy]

I'm sorry, I really don't know how to respond to your query without confusing you even more.

 

[JohnCU]

Try me.

 

[Pepsi90919]

well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
I'm sorry, I really don't know how to respond to your query without confusing you even more.

Translated - "You're too stupid to comprehend my explanation."

 

[Heisenberg]

Because the voltage of the positive end of the battery is produced relative to the negative end, not the ground.

 

[element]

the battery is not connected to the ground of the house so no it won't read the voltage as 1.5 because there is no current flow through the voltmeter. However, the potential difference is theoretically 1.5 volts.

 

[olds]

One is DC the other is AC

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

AC doesn't have a ground

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

Err...what? All electricity requires two points to have a potential difference whether it's AC or DC.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

Err...what? All electricity requires two points to have a potential difference whether it's AC or DC.

it's neutral

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

Err...what? All electricity requires two points to have a potential difference whether it's AC or DC.

it's neutral

There is a 3rd prong that connects to the ground for safety precautions, or have I spent 2 years in EE for nothing?

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

Err...what? All electricity requires two points to have a potential difference whether it's AC or DC.

it's neutral

Well neutral or ground or whatever the hell you want to call it, AC still requires a reference point of that's defined to be zero potential.

 

[element]

you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
well for one thing you can't read AC and DC at the same time... among lots of other things

Ground is ground, isn't it? I mean, 0 volts is 0 volts, the ground isn't sinusoidal.

AC doesn't have a ground

Err...what? All electricity requires two points to have a potential difference whether it's AC or DC.

it's neutral

There is a 3rd prong that connects to the ground for safety precautions, or have I spent 2 years in EE for nothing?

if you spent 2 years in EE i'm sure you'd be able to answer the original question.

 

[eelw]

You still need to complete the circuit.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: element
you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

Well, relative to the ground, the battery's positive end is at 1.5 V, no?

 

[Colt45]

There is no common ground, there is no complete circuit.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: element
you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

Well, relative to the ground, the battery's positive end is at 1.5 V, no?

>.<

aside from the obvious AC and DC discrepancy, there's no completed circuit in the battery. there are no electrons flowing anywhere.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Colt45
There is no common ground, there is no complete circuit.

thanks.

 

[element]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: element
you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

Well, relative to the ground, the battery's positive end is at 1.5 V, no?

yes theoretically. as I stated before, you might have missed it:

the battery is not connected to the ground of the house so no it won't read the voltage as 1.5 because there is no current flow through the voltmeter. However, the potential difference is theoretically 1.5 volts.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: element
you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

Well, relative to the ground, the battery's positive end is at 1.5 V, no?

>.<

aside from the obvious AC and DC discrepancy, there's no completed circuit in the battery. there are no electrons flowing anywhere.

Well, in a perfect voltmeter, there is infinite resistance, so there's no completed circuit when you touch the two leads together.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: element
you spent 2 years in EE and don't know the answer to your question? I hate to say this but that's sad

Well, relative to the ground, the battery's positive end is at 1.5 V, no?

>.<

aside from the obvious AC and DC discrepancy, there's no completed circuit in the battery. there are no electrons flowing anywhere.

Well, in a perfect voltmeter, there is infinite resistance, so there's no completed circuit when you touch the two leads together.

i don't see where you're going with this...