Editing Switch (section)

==Description==
[[File:Tactile switches.jpg|thumb|right|Three tactile push-button switches]]

The most familiar form of switch is a manually operated electromechanical device with one or more sets of [[electrical contacts]], which are connected to external circuits. Each set of contacts can be in one of two states: either "closed" meaning the contacts are touching and electricity can flow between them, or "open", meaning the contacts are separated and the switch is nonconducting. The mechanism actuating the transition between these two states (open or closed) is usually (there are other types of actions) either an "''alternate action''" (flip the switch for continuous "on" or "off") or "''momentary''" (push for "on" and release for "off") type.

A switch may be directly manipulated by a human as a control signal to a system, such as a computer keyboard button, or to control power flow in a circuit, such as a [[light switch]]. Automatically operated switches can be used to control the motions of machines, for example, to indicate that a garage door has reached its full open position or that a machine tool is in a position to accept another workpiece. Switches may be operated by process variables such as pressure, temperature, flow, current, voltage, and force, acting as [[sensor]]s in a process and used to automatically control a system. For example, a [[thermostat]] is a temperature-operated switch used to control a heating process. A switch that is operated by another electrical circuit is called a [[relay]]. Large switches may be remotely operated by a motor drive mechanism. Some switches are used to isolate electric power from a system, providing a visible point of isolation that can be padlocked if necessary to prevent accidental operation of a machine during maintenance, or to prevent electric shock.

An ideal switch would have no voltage drop when closed, and would have no limits on voltage or current rating. It would have zero [[rise time]] and [[fall time]] during state changes, and would change state without "bouncing" between on and off positions.

Practical switches fall short of this ideal; as the result of roughness and oxide films, they exhibit [[contact resistance]], limits on the current and voltage they can handle, finite switching time, etc. The ideal switch is often used in circuit analysis as it greatly simplifies the system of equations to be solved, but this can lead to a less accurate solution. Theoretical treatment of the effects of non-ideal properties is required in the design of large networks of switches, as for example used in telephone exchanges.