Can anyone explain this?

Okay there is a flourecent light hanging from the ceiling that has been cut off to the switch but power is still going to it. I stood on a chair to cut some execess wire off of it that would have lead to the switch. I stood on a chair and went to cut the...

wire with a pair of wire cutters. As I did the light came on. How ddi this happen?

Most probable cause is that the wiring is backwards going through the switch.
Some people wire switches wrong and don't realize that they are doing it.

Most switches have two wires coming off of them.
One is hot --- and the other is the ground.

When a "switch" is installed, the purpose of the switch is to kill the current that
is going through the "hot" wire... not the ground. You shut of the switch, and it
"kills" the electricity going through the hot wire. The ground wire is never dis-
connected from the fixture. In that manner, the fixture always remains "grounded" so
that you don't get a shock off of it.

However, if the switch is wired in wrong... then the ground wire gets cut when you turn the switch off, and the hot wire is still hot. The way the light is mounted, or you coming in contact with the fixture somehow can complete the ground and act the same way as if you turned the light switch, that had been wired wrong, back on...
completing the ground to the light and the light comes on.

There are also two other freak things about florurescent light bulbs that will also enable them to light.

1). Static electricity
2). A charge coming through the air from another real close electrical source.

So, in short, it sounds like you are trying to do your own wiring and you got the wires at the switch backwards. The switch is most likely breaking the ground and not the hot wire.

Hope this helps. Good Luck !

;-)

your fortuate that the fall from the ladder didn,t break a bone,someone nearby might have helped you that knows the science.I've,e tried that also and I guess we learn the hard way.stick to asking ? before.I have learned the hard way and almost lost my life.take care,this is only an answer that doesn,t apply to your ?

Fluresent? isnt that like glow in the dark- lights by itself anyway?