newbie breadboard q - separate metal ground plane

[mstram]

Following Ben Eater's recommendation, I bought a couple of
these BB830 Solderless BreadBoard from Amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0040Z4QN8?psc ... ct_details

The package contain a separate piece of metal, the same size as the board.

What is that piece for ?

"External" ground connections ?

Mike

[GARTHWILSON]

I've always kind of wondered what it was for.  It might have some effectiveness as a shield in low-frequency, high-impedance work like audio (and only if you kept the wires hugging the solderless breadboard as opposed to flying high), but you can't solder to aluminum, and they don't give you a tag or anything to screw a solder lug onto.  It is totally worthless as a ground plane for digital work though.  That's not how a ground plane works in digital.

[BigEd]

Is it possible it's just for a bit of weight to stop the breadboard skating around on the desk?

[Paganini]

You're supposed to mount the breadboard on it using the sticky foam on the back of the breadboard, if you don't mount the breadboard on some other thing (like one of those fancy backing plates with banana plugs, or a cookie sheet.)

As to *why* you might want to do that, the instructions never say. I think mainly what it does is add some stiffness to the board, and keep you from punching through the back if you stab a component lead in too hard.