Switches

A switch is just a controlled break in the loop that you decide when to open or close. Closed (on) → the contacts touch, the path is complete, current flows. Open (off) → the contacts separate, the path is broken, current stops. That’s the entire job — a deliberate open circuit on demand.

Switches come in flavours. A toggle switch stays wherever you leave it (a light switch). A momentary push button only closes while you press it and springs back open when released (a doorbell). The label SPST means Single Pole, Single Throw — the simplest on/off switch with one path.

Real switches "bounce": their metal contacts physically chatter open and closed for a few milliseconds when pressed. Your eye never notices, but a fast circuit might count one press as several. You’ll learn to tame this bounce later — for now, just know it exists.