This is still the standard in the U.S., even though actual voltages on our system tend to run a bit higher.īut when people started to build power grids in other countries, they tried to make improvements. Most of the things that ran on electricity back then – mainly lights – worked best at 110 volts. in the 1880s, the voltage delivered to homes was established at 110 volts. When inventors like Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla built the world’s first modern transmission grid in the U.S. You can think of it like running water: It might be a trickle, or a stream, or a flow so fast it can knock you off your feet. The higher the voltage, the higher the pressure. To push current through the wires, electrical systems create a pressure called voltage. This feature is called grounding, because if electric current escapes from the wires that normally carry it, a special set of wires leads it from the center opening to a rod buried deep in the ground. The third opening in the middle of the outlet is called the “ground.” It helps to keep you safe from electric shock if something goes wrong with the plug, or if a wire gets loose in whatever you’ve plugged in. The current flows from the “hot” side through the lamp and back to the “neutral” side. In the U.S., the slot on the right side of an electrical outlet is called the “hot” side and the slot on the left is “neutral.” When you plug in a lamp and turn it on, it completes a circuit that allows electric current to flow and light the lamp. To understand why electric outlets aren’t all the same, you need to know how a plug works. Department of Commerce and are for identification only. Three of the 15 major types of electric plugs in use around the world.
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