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Inside the GFCI is an electrical device that constantly compares the current on the two wires of an electrical circuit. If, at any time, the electrical device detects an imbalance, the GFCI shuts off the circuit.

Most electrical shocks occur when a person touches the LIVE wire of a circuit while grounded in some other way (such as standing barefooted on concrete). The GFCI detects that imbalance and shuts off the circuit so quickly that we often don't even feel the shock.

As a word of caution, don't depend on the GFCI as a substitute for common sense. If you aren't touching some kind of grounded surface, the GFCI will not function. In that situation you are nothing more than another resistance load. Also, if you feel that the GFCI will protect you and ignore normal caution around electricity, you may encounter a circuit that is either NOT protected with a GFCI, or you may encounter a GFCI that has failed. Either way, always use caution when doing anything with electricity.

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12y ago
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13y ago

A GFCI (Ground Fault Current Interrupter) prevents serious injury from electric current by detecting the imbalance caused by a short circuit from hot to ground, and interrupting the current flow, often within milliseconds, before serious injury results.

This works because there is normally zero current on ground, with all of the return current flowing on neutral. In a typically postulated fault, such as the hot wiring from a hair dryer making contact with your hand, and the other hand touching ground, such as the bathroom faucet, not all of the current returns on neutral.

Kirchoff's current law states that the sum of the currents entering a node is exactly equal to the sum of the currents leaving a node. If some current flows on ground, then the current on neutral must therefore be less than the current flowing on hot. The GFCI detects this imbalance and opens, saving lives.

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Q: How does the GFCI prevent serious injury from electric current?
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