120v circut - should I have power between....?

Question

I have a 120v appliance - when I put my voltmeter between the black (line) wire and the green (ground) should I get a reading of 120v on my voltmeter?

Answer 1

not from the appliance itself

Answer 2

Yes, you should get somewhere around 120v.

You should also get the same reading between the hot and neatral.

Answer 3

If you got zapped touching the outside of the appliance I would have to ask if you were touching anything else.  The other question would be if this is a new house or old house and is the ckt in question on a ground fault interupter ckt brkr or outlet.  you should not get shocked just touching the appliance unless you were touching something else as well or had no shoes on.  Also if you have a voltage between the white and ground (110-120) and ground and nothing on the black to ground then the outlet is reversed in polarity, (yes it does make a difference on AC ckts).  This situation energizes the frame of the unit if the ground is not connected

Answer 4

Yes, because the neutral (white wire)  is at the same potetial in the power panel.

Answer 5

If this is properly wired, the voltage between black wire and ground (green in your case) should be approx 120 v; the voltage between black wire and white should be approx 120 v; the voltage between white wire and ground wire should be approx 0 volts.