Ground?

[onetoughcookie]

I'm not exactly sure what ground is. I know the schematic symbol for it, but why is there so many ground points in a schematic? If I'm following a schematic and if I see something connected to ground, where do I connect the circuit to?

 

[MikeMl]

I'm not exactly sure what ground is. I know the schematic symbol for it, but why is there so many ground points in a schematic? If I'm following a schematic and if I see something connected to ground, where do I connect the circuit to?

First the ground symbol gets connected to all other ground symbols of the shame shape. Look carefully, there may be more than one type of ground symbol. Think of the ground symbol as shorthand for "connect this to all other similar ground symbols". It is used primarily to declutter the drawing.

Second, the ground symbol usually also gets connected to one side (usually the negative pole) of the circuit's power source.

 

[Gobbledok]

Ground is basically your negative.

Therefore you connect all of the grounds together, then to the negative from your power supply (for a single supply circuit).

 

[PatM]

I'm not exactly sure what ground is. I know the schematic symbol for it, but why is there so many ground points in a schematic? If I'm following a schematic and if I see something connected to ground, where do I connect the circuit to?

This has been answered in previous posts.
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/chassis-ground-signal-ground-circuit-ground.97494/

 

[onetoughcookie]

got it! thanks everyone

 

[Jon Wilder]

Ground is basically your negative.

Therefore you connect all of the grounds together, then to the negative from your power supply (for a single supply circuit).

No, ground is nothing more than a reference point. You can reference either side of the circuit to it, be it the positive or the negative side depending on the circuit. It is just one side of the circuit that all measurements are relative to.

 

[catv amplifier]

Ground is the reference point in an electrical circuit or you can say it is a common return path for electrical circuits.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

An easy way to think of it, presume you're doing building work in a multi-storey building, fitting light switches.

When you're on the ground floor, you measure from the 'ground' up to get the switch at the correct height.

On the higher floors you measure from the floor of each level, you 'could' measure each one from the ground - but it would be FAR more difficult. So effectively, 'ground' is different for each level, as it's referenced to a different place.

As others have said, it's mainly just a 'point of reference', nothing else.

 

[Jon Wilder]

Ground is the reference point in an electrical circuit or you can say it is a common return path for electrical circuits.

Actually...if we're talking AC electrical circuits, neutral is the return path while ground is just an "emergency circuit". It's there to allow overload current to bypass the neutral should the hot short to an appliance casing.