Hot Side Of Electrical Plug

The wide flat slot on the upper left is neutral.

Hot side of electrical plug. When you plug in an appliance or light bulb the current flows out the hot side of the plug to the appliance or light and then back out of the appliance on the neutral wire into the left side of the plug completing the circuit. The type a plug has two flat parallel prongs and can fit in both styles of outlets. The color of the insulation tells you which wire is neutral because the national electrical code specifies that the neutral wire is always white. The two prongs provide a hot and neutral electrical connection.

The code doesn t specify a color for the hot wire but by convention it s either black or red. When you remove the sheathing you may find two or three wires. Similarly overheated plugs can damage the insulating material around the plug s prongs or electrical cord wires. But regular two prong plugs which lack the ground prong can be connected with either prong on the hot side.

The hot side is the side connected to the breaker itself back at the panel. The hot wire on a lamp cord will be the the side that has the more narrow prong on the plug in. A two wire plug uses a type a outlet. This is easier to show by looking at the electrical outlet that the plug fits into.

Or you can look at the cord and whichever side is smooth not ribbed but smooth is your hot wire. A plug that is hot to the touch may pose fire and electrical shock hazards. The black wire is the hot wire which provides a 120 vac current. The narrower flat slot on the upper right is hot typicall.

The three wires in a standard nmb cable are connected to the three prongs of a standard electrical outlet properly called a receptacle. Focus on the top half of this us style duplex outlet. These outlets are the older version of the current type b outlet. It s the one that will shock you if you touch it and that s why we call it hot.

Type b was created to provide a connection for an electrical safety system.