Hector Martin

AC power is transmitted as a sinusoid centered around said reference. Switch hot and neutral and you have a negative sinusoid. A negative sinusoid centered around 0 is a positive sinusoid with a phase shift of 180 degrees.

And no earth ground and neutral should not be connected anywhere that is such a bad idea it breaks the GFCI (ground fault current.... i don't remember). It's not safe. Ground is a reference, earth ground is a "safe emergency path" effectively.

Well they should be connected *somewhere*... Usually at the distribution transformer. And nowhere else.

Yes ok I meant inside the house and I think you knew that if we start getting into the distribution mechanisms all bets are off

Fun fact: one of the reasons why earthed 3-pin sockets are uncommon in Japan is that the design was patented. The patent was owned by the late former boss of the company I work for in Tokyo (whom I met once on my first trip to Japan). He was an interesting dude.

Why would that make them less common though? This raises more questions than it explains

Had to pay royalties on it. So instead of the patented design people used the separate earth screw terminal hack.

Bad™ This is one of those instances where the government should have excercised their ability to ignore patent violations in the name of public safety.