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A table lamp using AC (alternating current) does not have a positive wire, but many will color-code the wires white and black within the circuit. <><><><> As said, no positive and negative, but there IS a hot and a neutral. The hot wire may have ridges running the length of the insulation (or be colored black if separately insulated). The hot wire connects to the brass colored screw, and feeds power to the base of the bulb. Yes, will work if reversed, but is not according to electrical code. White or unridged wire connects to silver colored screw, which connects to the shell of the bulb base.
If you are talking about the wiring of buildings/houses then blue would be a hot with ac current. If you mean wire in electronics then it would also "usually" be a positive but if there is any danger you should never assume. A tester could save you from having to buy a new component or your life.AnswerThe European convention is that blue insulation indicates a neutral conductor, brown, black, or grey insulation indicates a line conductor, and a yellow/green striped conductor indicates an earth conductor.
White wire is usually used as a neutral conductor and a 240v ac unit has no neutral. Each leg of the 240 volts is a "hot" leg However, very often a 12/2 or 14/2 NM cable is used to power small window ac units using 240v. In this case one of the conductors is white, but is not a neutral. It is good practice to mark the white wire with black tape so it is readily identified as a hot wire.
White is neutral in home wiring. Red is sometimes used in 3-way switches and dimmer applications, so it is likely red is hot in your application if it pertains to home wiring. The term positive would just apply to DC wiring since AC goes positive and negative. For example your car battery has Red as Positive and Black as Negative.
Use 8 gauge wire.