Electrical repair

Last Sunday I discovered the broken extension cord.  Son-in-law was going to throw it out.  I said not to and purchased a replacement plug.  Today I fixed the cord.  I cut off the broken plug.  Then I cut the outer cord back about an inch.  I noted the three different color wires.  White, Black, Green.  Which cord goes to which part of the new plug? 

I guessed that the green went to the ground (the round part) and the black and white would go to each of the prongs.  But which would go to which side? Would it matter?  I assumed it would because the plug had one prong larger than the other.  I didn't want to cross the wires: when I plugged the cord into the wall and then plugged something into the end of the cord I didn't want the wire that went to the larger prong on my electrical item to then cross over and plug into the wall on the smaller prong.  Likewise, I didn't want what was originally the smaller prong to cross over to the larger prong. 

Since I didn't know which wire went to which prong I had two choices.  I could cut off the other end and replace that end as well.  Then I could choose which wire went to which location.  As long as they matched at each end the color wouldn't matter.  The other way I could do it, which was the way I ended up, was to cut apart the original plug.  The black wire was attached to the larger prong so on the new one I made sure the black wire was attached to the larger prong.  Easy.

It took about five minutes to complete this project.  It would have been nice if I had a wire stripper.  I do, it was rusted and bent up (thanks grandkids).  What tools did I use in this project?  A box cutter razor blade, a pair of scissors, a screwdriver, and two pliers to pull apart the original plug.  I saved over $50 by repairing it plus it's another step toward self reliance.