The process of connecting a charged body to the ground is called grounding

Yes, the process of connecting a charged object to the ground is called grounding, and by it a safe backup path is chosen for excess electricity in the event of a malfunction in the wiring system.

The grounding process aims to:

• • Protecting electrical appliances in homes and factories from electrical overloads.
  • Maintaining stable voltage levels along the circuit.

• Providing a secondary, zero-resistance path for the electrical circuits connected to the main panel.
• Avoiding many material and physical damages at the human level.

Electrical overloads:  A rise in electrical current usually occurs within large electrical systems in homes or factories as a result of:

• Electrical lightning strikes during severe weather conditions.
• Sudden surge in internal electrical current.

The electrical grounding process helps eliminate excess electricity from the electrical system in an external path, which ensures safety and protection for all electrical devices in factories or homes.

Stability of voltage levels: In the grounding process, the earth acts as a common reference point for voltage sources in different systems due to its internal voltage being equal to zero.

The amount of zero ground voltage helps distribute electrical energy appropriately along the circuit and eliminate excess potential from the circuit through continuous discharge.

Secondary path for electricity: The earth is a good conductor of electricity, in addition to having very weak, almost non-existent electrical resistance, which makes it a great secondary path for discharging high-voltage electrical circuits instead of passing through devices and destroying them, or worse, flowing through the human body.

Prevent Serious Damage and Death:  Electrical systems experts ground home electrical systems to reduce:

• Damaging electrical devices when high electrical current passes through the devices and then disposing of them.
• Fires break out as a result of excess electricity, leading to the death of people or the destruction of property.

Basic principles of electrical conduction

A good understanding of the grounding process depends on the student’s understanding of a number of indisputable scientific facts, which are:

• Electricity is electrons flowing inside metal wires that may have a positive or negative charge.
• Electricity flows through metal wires that are closed on themselves, forming an electrical circuit. Therefore, it takes all available paths to reach the form of a complete electrical circuit, even if its completion is the human body itself.
• In order for electricity to flow in an electrical circuit, electrons must move from the negative terminal to the positive terminal each time.
• Electrical charges cannot flow within an electrical circuit unless it is completely closed.
• Electricity always returns to the source from which it originates.
• Electrical electronic paths usually take the path of least resistance to facilitate their scrambling process.
• Earth is a good conductor of electricity, in addition to having a very small amount of electrical resistance, which makes it suitable for use as a secondary fast path in all electrical systems. [1] [2]

How are the basic principles of electrical conduction applied in electrical circuits?

By looking at the structure of a simple electrical circuit, we can illustrate a number of the basics of electrical conductivity

The previous picture shows a simple electrical circuit consisting of:

• Battery, which is a DC energy source in which electrons flow in one unchanging direction and consists of two terminals, positive and negative.
• A light source is a lamp.
• An electrical switch to close and open a circuit to complete an electrical circuit.
• A wire through which electrons move from the negative terminal of the battery to the lamp, known as  the hot wire .
• An electrical wire in which electrons move from the lamp to the electrical source, and it is known as a  neutral wire .

To operate a lamp in a simple circuit according to the basic principles of electricity, it is necessary:

• Close the electrical circuit through the power switch.
• The electricity rushes from the negative end of the battery towards the lamp through the hot wire, and then the electricity rushes back to the power source through the neutral  wire.

The simple electrical circuit is applied at a higher level in the case of household and factory electricity by:

• Replacing a simple DC electrical source with a continuous AC source is known as a transformer.
• Adding a ground wire to the electrical circuit opposite the neutral wire as a secondary path in the event of an increased electrical load on the circuit.

What is the role of the ground wire in large electrical circuits?

Protecting humans from exposure to danger or damage to electrical property or homes 

In cases of normal electrical connection and under normal circumstances, electricity does not flow at all through the ground wire, but rather it is taken as a secondary route in the event of an emergency when the amount of electrical current increases within the circuit instead of damaging electrical devices or exposing humans to electrocution.

How to do electrical grounding in a simple way

For grounding, technical experts need:

• A metal rod driven into the ground that acts as a conductor between the electrical panel to which it is connected and the ground.
• A copper conductor that connects the rail to a set of connections coming from the service panel.

The structural form of the electrical grounding system varies based on:

• The size of the electrical system that needs to be protected.
• The electrical voltage cannot be increased.

You can now begin studying the principles of electrical conduction and the grounding process in more depth by listening to the following videos and beginning to discuss them with your friends and your professor.