Switch
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In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of switch is an electromechanical device consisting of one or more sets of movable electrical contacts connected to external circuits. When a pair of contacts is touching current can pass between them, while when the contacts are separated no current can flow.
Electrical switches. Top, left to right: circuit breaker, mercury switch, wafer switch, DIP switch, surface mount switch, reed switch. Bottom, left to right: wall switch (U.S. style), miniature toggle switch, in‑line switch, push-button switch, rocker switch, microswitch.
Three push button switches (Tactile Switches). Major scale is inches.
A toggle switch in the "on" position
Triple-pole single-throw (TPST or 3PST) knife switch used to short the windings of a three‑phase wind turbine for braking purposes. Here the switch is shown in the open position.
Electronics
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Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other electrically charged particles. Electronics is a subfield of electrical engineering which uses active devices such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits to control and amplify the flow of electric current and to convert it from one form to another, such as from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or from analog signals to digital signals.
Modern surface-mount electronic components on a printed circuit board, with a large integrated circuit at the top
One of the earliest Audion radio receivers, constructed by De Forest in 1914
Various electronic components
Through-hole devices mounted on the circuit board of a mid-1980s home computer. Axial-lead devices are at upper left, while blue radial-lead capacitors are at upper right.