4 wires of a Power cable?

I have a standard computer power cable. It has four wires -- a black, a green, a white and a metal wire not covered in the plastic covering that the other three are. What is each of these wires for? My guess is black is current, white is neutral, green is grounding, and the bare wire is some part of the insulation. Thank you Yahoos!

Answers:
In normal electrical work:
Black is hot
White is neutral
Bare wire is ground
Green is usually associated with ground,

BUT

This is not normal electrial work, this is a power cord for a computer and it was probably made in China. China certainly does not subscribe the the US National Electrical Code, so good luck. I would not trust anything made in China - shoddy merchandise made by slave labor.

ON the other hand, as I sit here thinking, you did not describe the bare wire very well. Was it a thin silver one or a copper one as heavy as the black and white ones? I am assuming these are all stranded wire, except if the bare one is thin then it is only one slightly heavier strand I bet.

Other answers:
BLACK - NEUTRAL
GREEN - LIVE (HOT) or CURRENT
METAL - GROUND
WHITE - NOT SURE
BLACK - NEUTRAL
GREEN - LIVE (HOT) or CURRENT
METAL - GROUND
WHITE - NOT SURE
I have a question for YOU. If you have a computer power cable why in the world should you be seeing the wire colors? Don't plug it in! You can buy a power cable for a couple bucks
black = hot or +
white = neutral or -
green = ground
bare = ground
get a qualified technician to take a look. Not worth the ZZZAAAPPP!
I DON'T THINK THAT IS A "STANDARD" POWER CABLE CARRY IT INTO THE SERVICE DEPT AT SOMEPLACE AND ASK.
white is always you neutral conductor.

green is always the equipment grounding conductor.

black is a hot conductor.

i think the bare wrap is an equipment grounding conductor for the cord. it's there incase someone were to put a screw or puncture the cable in some other way. a screw penetrating the cord would hit the bare first, then it would hit the hot wire. the bare shield would carry the current all the way back to the panel and trip the breaker instead of the current going through your body.
normally:

black is hot
white is neutral (grounded)
green is ground (grounding)
the bare could be a shield was the entire thing wrapped in foil?

you could do some testing with the cord unattached using a continuity tester, or you could buy a cheap meter rated for the source voltage
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