Quote:
Originally posted by Xaccers
But it's ac so the polarity is alternating anyway (hence why on the continent you just get two pin plugs identical in size).
Unless it's a carry over from the old days when they used dc...
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Not quite. Yes it alternates, but one is the phase wire, and one is the neutral. You would want to be able to distinguish them from each other. Appliances with two pins, such as coffee machines, have one pin slightly bigger to indicate the phase wire. Since houses are wired with 2-phase power, you can create 220 volts AC by using two phase wires instead of a phase and neutral. That will create 110 v + 110 v = 220 v.