What Is Ground (GND)?

If you've ever wondered why your electronics are so sensitive to the ground, it's because the common grounds are where all of your electrical signals start and where they come back to rest. In the context of electronics, the environment is a backing point for signs or a typical path in an electrical circuit where all the voltages can be measured. It is also called the standard drain since the voltage bulk along it is zero. The ground symbol on your circuit board looks like a circle with lines coming out of it and representing the various components in your circuit. The ground symbol is typically used to indicate that there is no voltage at that point on your circuit board. So how does grounding work? Grounding is a safety measure that prevents electrical shock by channeling any incidental charge through a metal rod and into the ground. If you have ever touched an appliance plugged in, you know what it feels like to get shocked. That's because there is always an electrical potential between two points. If those points are separated by a body (say, your hand), then the electricity will travel through your body until it finds another place to go (such as the ground). If no ground is nearby, you might feel that painful sensation of electricity running through your body! It is why we use grounding rods—to ensure we have earth ground available at all times. All appliances in a house are ideally connected to common circuit ground and then connected to the literal earth ground via the rod. It is also used for lighting protection systems where lightning is gathered via a lightning rod to prevent it from hitting something else and then dissipated on the earth's ground.