What hazard is eliminated by using a broken-off third prong on a plug?

What hazard is eliminated by using a broken-off third prong on a plug?

• A. Not safe to use
• B. Improves safety
• C. Increases flow
• D. Reduces resistance

Answer: (A)

Grounding is there to protect you. The third prong provides a direct path to earth for fault currents, which helps keep metal parts from becoming live and allows safety devices to trip if something goes wrong. When that ground prong is broken off, the plug becomes ungrounded. Without that grounding path, a fault could energize the device’s metal casing and give you a shock. So, using a plug with a broken-off ground prong makes the setup not safe to use. The other options don’t fit because grounding doesn’t conceptually relate to increasing flow or reducing resistance, and breaking the ground is not a safety improvement.

Grounding is there to protect you. The third prong provides a direct path to earth for fault currents, which helps keep metal parts from becoming live and allows safety devices to trip if something goes wrong. When that ground prong is broken off, the plug becomes ungrounded. Without that grounding path, a fault could energize the device’s metal casing and give you a shock. So, using a plug with a broken-off ground prong makes the setup not safe to use. The other options don’t fit because grounding doesn’t conceptually relate to increasing flow or reducing resistance, and breaking the ground is not a safety improvement.