Fuse (electrical) Fuse (electrical) In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is an electrical safety device that operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit. Its essential component is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows through it, thereby interrupting the current. It is a sacrificial device; once a fuse has operated it is an open circuit, and it must be replaced or rewired, depending on type. Fuses have been used as essential safety devices from the early days of electrical engineering. Today there are thousands of different fuse designs which have specific current and voltage
Electrical contacts free path of electrons formula_1, ballistic conduction of electrons occurs, resulting in a phenomena known also as "Sharvin resistance" . Contact force or pressure increases the size of the a-spot which decreases the constriction resistance and the electrical contact resistance. When the size of contacting asperities becomes larger than the mean free path of electrons, Holm-type contacts become the dominant transport mechanism, resulting in a relative low contact resistance. Electrical contacts An electrical contact is an electrical circuit component found in electrical switches, relays, connectors and circuit breakers. Each contact is a piece of electrically conductive material, usually metal. When