06/08/06, 03:58 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 486
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Woohoo, success! Congratulations!
The white wires are referred to as 'neutral' but you are right, they are the return wires that complete the circuit back to the fuse box, and back to the transformer on the power line.
And you didn't cap them off, you just tied the white wire leading from the breaker box to the white wire on the outlet and the white wire on the light allowing those circuits to be completed.
The black wire carries current out, the white wire completes the circuit so whatever device ( outlet, toaster, whatever ) can use the current. The bare wire grounds the device so that if a short occurs in it from black to the frame of the device, that will protect you and cause the breaker to trip ( think a bare wire in your refrigerator touching the metal chassis, the ground wire takes that current away from harming you ).
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