How many conductors are required for a switched receptacle to work properly?

• A. Two
• B. Three
• C. Four
• D. Five

Answer: (B)

When a receptacle is switched, power must travel from the source to a switch and then back to the outlet, while the neutral path completes the circuit. Three conductors are needed to do this: a hot feed, a neutral return, and the switched hot that arrives back at the receptacle to energize the controlled half. The grounding conductor is important for safety, but it isn’t part of the active current path for the load, so it isn’t counted among the conductors required to make the switched receptacle work. If you tried with fewer, there wouldn’t be a proper switched path and neutral to complete the circuit; with more, you’d simply have extra conductors not necessary for the basic operation.