Could someone explain to me what ground means??
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Could someone explain to me what ground means??
I don't get it.
I'm not sure but is it a way to give power to a component without connecting it directly to the battery, and if so how do you know where to solder it??? Thanks in advanced. 
Re: Could someone explain to me what ground means??
no no....ground is a reference. Voltage is a strange thing. Every voltage you measure has to be referenced to some known value, "0 volts" if you want to call it that.littlemal wrote:I'm not sure but is it a way to give power to a component without connecting it directly to the battery
What I have shown you is reality. What you remember, that is the illusion.
"Say, what does this button do?"
All the dishes rattle in the cupboards when the elephants arrive
"Say, what does this button do?"
All the dishes rattle in the cupboards when the elephants arrive
I couldn't decide if I should just be a jerk and make a simple statement that would make all of this even murkier, or try to help. I think I'll try to help, but may still end up confusing the issue.
Electricity works at the (sub)atomic level. In an atom, you have electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons are negative (-), protons are positive (+) and neutrons are neutral. Electricity is actually the flowing of electrons from where there is a surplus to where there is a deficit. This means that electricity actually flows from negative to positive. A ground is just a source of excess electrons. While the term ground comes from, well, the ground (earth) it also now has some other meanings, such as chasis ground (the metal casing that something comes in.)
For your purposes, you can just think of ground as any negative source. the - on the battery, the ground wire from a power supply, that funny third wire on three prong plugs, the frame of your car. In piece of electronic equipment, all of the grounds are usually connected together, so if you need to connect something to ground, just pick any wire that connects to ground and connect to it (even the negative wire coming directly off the battery.)
Probably more than you needed to know, and enough to confuse you if you think about it too much.
Electricity works at the (sub)atomic level. In an atom, you have electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons are negative (-), protons are positive (+) and neutrons are neutral. Electricity is actually the flowing of electrons from where there is a surplus to where there is a deficit. This means that electricity actually flows from negative to positive. A ground is just a source of excess electrons. While the term ground comes from, well, the ground (earth) it also now has some other meanings, such as chasis ground (the metal casing that something comes in.)
For your purposes, you can just think of ground as any negative source. the - on the battery, the ground wire from a power supply, that funny third wire on three prong plugs, the frame of your car. In piece of electronic equipment, all of the grounds are usually connected together, so if you need to connect something to ground, just pick any wire that connects to ground and connect to it (even the negative wire coming directly off the battery.)
Probably more than you needed to know, and enough to confuse you if you think about it too much.
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- Offenders will be bashed. Repeat Offenders will be repeatedly bashed.
Re: Could someone explain to me what ground means??
miss post 
Last edited by littlemal on Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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