ELI5: Why do some power cords have 2 holes while others have 3?

r/

A 2-hole power cord and a 3-hole power cord.

I know they’re both to charge laptops, but why the difference in holes?

Comments

  1. _Asercu Avatar

    A two hole power cold only has the two leads, but no ground pin. To keep these devices safe they are usually insulated and have an icon of 2 centered squares somewhere. The 3 pin cord is grounded, so if something shorts oit the excess current can be safely drained into the ground

  2. Rockhound666 Avatar

    Third lead is ground. So one is grounded and the other isn’t.

  3. AdarTan Avatar

    Grounding.

    The three pronged one has a ground connection, i.e. a connection to that big, wholly metal pin on the wall plug. This will get connected to the main body of the device so that if something inside of the device breaks and connects the body to the live wire the system will short to ground and burn a fuse/pop a breaker instead of electrocuting anyone who touches it.

    The two pronged one skips the ground connections and the corresponding device in turn needs to be “double insulated” which means that the device has been built so that any part of the device a person can touch while it is operation will not be energized by accident.

  4. HammerTh_1701 Avatar

    The third pin is a ground pin. It’s common on devices that use a lot of power, like several hundred watts. The ground connects to the housing of the device which prevents you from getting shocked by touching the housing if something has gone very wrong internally. Smaller devices often omit the ground pin because it isn’t absolutely necessary, it’s just an additional safety feature.

  5. Coady54 Avatar

    Grounded vs. Ungrounded devices.

    The third line serves as a ground wire, and exists as a safety measure to act as a safe pathway for excess and unintended electricity to travel. Some devices won’t have a ground wire when they contain internal safety mechanisms that would make a ground wire irrelevant or unnecessary. Others won’t have them because they’re cheaply made and not up to certified standards.

  6. ArgyllAtheist Avatar

    Some appliances are designed so that even if they break or are damaged, you can’t come into contact with the live electrical parts – we call those double insulated, and they have a symbol with a square inside another square to show this.

    Those can be used safely with two pin power leads.

    Others, where you might be able to come into contact with the live parts if they broke, or where the conductors are a little larger and more power is needed, require what we used to call a ground or earth wire, but is now called a “cpc” or “circuit protective conductor”.

    That’s what the third pin is for.

  7. _MuadDib_ Avatar

    The one with 3 holes actually use the group pin for safety. While tne with 2 doesn’t. The groud pin adds a layer of safety protection against electric shock in case of malfunction and is used on appliances with metal body or high power consumption. But for small, double insulated devices it’s not needed.