Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The longer earth pin pushes a slide aside as the plug goes in. The figure is taken from British Standards Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a everyday life fact?

Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

British sockets keep their holes shuttered until earthed

The longer earth pin pushes a slide aside as the plug goes in The socket face has three holes but only the earth one is open, and pushing the earth pin in slides a shutter clear of live and neutral. The shutters also mean a foreign object poked into one hole meets plastic, since nothing opens them without the earth pin. The arrangement is a mechanical interlock rather than an electronic one. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

British Standards Institution

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Technology trivia General Knowledge trivia

More facts like this

British plugs carry a fuse inside the live pinThe three-pin design protects each appliance with a fuse in its own plug European Schuko plugs put earth contacts on the sidesTwo flat strips on the plug rim meet spring contacts inside the socket A residual current device trips on unbalanced currentIt compares the current going out with the current coming back A dimmer dims by switching the supply off earlyThe circuit cuts each mains half cycle short so the lamp receives less energy Incandescent lightbulbs emit mostly heat rather than visible lightOver ninety per cent of electricity consumed by glowing tungsten filaments becomes heat Standard light bulb bases use Thomas Edison's 1909 screw threadCentury-old Edison screw specifications remain global electrical fitting standards

Tags: electricity, safety, plugs

British sockets keep their holes shuttered until earthed: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The longer earth pin pushes a slide aside as the plug goes in. The figure is taken from British Standards Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a everyday life fact?: Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.