What is the difference between grounding and bonding in electrical systems?

• A. Grounding provides a path for fault currents, while bonding has no electrical purpose.
• B. Grounding and bonding are the same process.
• C. Grounding provides a reference and fault path for protection; bonding connects conductive parts to ensure a continuous path for fault currents.
• D. Grounding is used only for lightning protection; bonding is used only for mechanical bonding.

Answer: (C)

Grounding and bonding serve two related but distinct safety roles in electrical systems. Grounding provides a reference point for the system voltage and a low-impedance path for fault currents to the earth. This helps protect people and equipment by ensuring that a fault current will travel back to the source, causing overcurrent protection (like a breaker or fuse) to trip and disconnect power. In short, grounding establishes a stable reference and a path for fault currents to reach the protective equipment.

Bonding, on the other hand, is about tying conductive parts together so they are at the same electrical potential. This creates a continuous path for fault currents among metal components and reduces dangerous voltage differences between those parts, which minimizes shock risk and improves fault clearing effectiveness.

So the correct statement reflects both roles: grounding provides a reference and a fault path to protect the system, while bonding connects conductive parts to maintain equipotential and ensure a reliable fault-current path. The other ideas miss or mix these purposes, such as claiming bonding has no electrical function, claiming grounding and bonding are the same, or limiting grounding to lightning while treating bonding as purely mechanical.