SW-33342

Power supplies often have protection from short circuit or overload that could damage the supply or cause a fire. Fuses and circuit breakers are two commonly used mechanisms for overload protection. Circuit breakers may be manually activated to interrupt the flow of electricity for the purpose of planned equipment maintenance or serviceable repair.

The circular path, which is always required to get electricity to flow and do something useful, is called a circuit. A circuit is a closed path that allows electricity to flow from one point to another. It may include various electrical components, such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors, but the flow is unimpeded by a gap or break in the circuit unless that path is interrupted.

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 electro-mechanical 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.