Ground fault concept: A ground fault is a fault path between which elements?

• A. Hot and ground
• B. Neutral and ground
• C. Hot and neutral
• D. Ground and box

Answer: (A)

A ground fault is a fault path between hot and ground. In a normal circuit, current flows from the hot conductor through the load and back on neutral. If insulation fails or a hot conductor touches a metal surface tied to the grounding system, current can take a path directly to earth instead of returning on neutral. This unintended hot-to-ground path creates a shock hazard because someone or something can become the return path. Devices like GFCIs protect by sensing any mismatch between hot and neutral currents and tripping if leakage to ground occurs. A fault between neutral and ground isn’t described as a ground fault in this context since neutral and ground are bonded at the service, so the critical issue is the undesired hot-to-ground path.