A break from the firehose of ascension
1. Magnetic circuits
Examples of magnetic circuits in real applications.
Breaking a contact under load (while it is conducting current) is rather difficult at high current and power levels. The arc that forms dissipates lots of power, is thus very hot (plasma), and therefore tends to melt the contact material.
Increasing the length of the arc is a common strategy to extinguish it, including in relays.
The arc is moving charge. Place that in a magnetic field and the arc tends to bow outwards.
