A break in a wire bridged by a hinged line, marking a switch.
Also known as: Toggle symbol, Contact symbol, Open switch symbol
A switch is drawn as a gap in a wire with a hinged line lifted away from one contact — a picture of a physical blade that swings to make or break the connection. Schematics show it in its resting state, which is a convention worth knowing before reading one.
Marks a switch: a component that makes or breaks a connection in a circuit.
Contexts: Electrical equipment
Depicts a physical blade hinged at one contact and lifted away from the other, so the drawn gap is the open circuit itself.
Contexts: Electrical equipment
Is drawn in its unoperated resting state by convention, so a switch shown open is one that is open until someone acts on it — not necessarily one that is open in normal service.
This is why relay and safety contacts are labelled normally-open or normally-closed rather than left to the drawing alone.
Contexts: Electrical equipment
Two dots on a horizontal wire with a gap between them, and a straight line hinged at one dot rising away at a shallow angle over the other.
A fuller structured visual breakdown is not yet documented for this symbol.