A three-prong grounding plug with the third prong ______________ is not safe to use.

A three-prong grounding plug with the third prong ______________ is not safe to use.

• A. broken-off
• B. bent
• C. loose
• D. missing

Answer: (A)

Grounding relies on the third prong being intact so fault current has a direct path to earth. If that prong is broken off, there is no grounding path at all. Without a ground, a fault could energize the metal housing and put you at risk of electric shock, and protective devices won’t have a proper ground reference to work with. Bent or loose ground prongs can still make contact, but the connection is unreliable, which can cause overheating or arcing; they’re unsafe because the ground path isn’t dependable. A missing grounding prong is also unsafe, but a broken-off prong specifically means the grounding path is completely lost, making it the most direct path to danger in this context.

Grounding relies on the third prong being intact so fault current has a direct path to earth. If that prong is broken off, there is no grounding path at all. Without a ground, a fault could energize the metal housing and put you at risk of electric shock, and protective devices won’t have a proper ground reference to work with. Bent or loose ground prongs can still make contact, but the connection is unreliable, which can cause overheating or arcing; they’re unsafe because the ground path isn’t dependable. A missing grounding prong is also unsafe, but a broken-off prong specifically means the grounding path is completely lost, making it the most direct path to danger in this context.