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You have to switch off any devices before you unplug them because there is often a spark as you withdraw the plug, so the plug and socket materials are gradually eroded and damaged.

Switches are designed with contact materials and shapes that withstand this erosion better and are spring-loaded to snap open to minimize the time when arcing can occur.

As the current to a circuit is interrupted, at first the air gap is less than a micrometer, aka a micron. The breakdown voltage for a micron of air is less than a volt, after which that micron of air is a conductor, and each additional micron of air then breaks down and so on. The spark is destructive because it concentrates the current flow on a tiny area causing micro-scale melting and metal migration.

In countries which use a 60 Hz AC electric power service, the spark is extinguished 120 times a second as the voltage waveform passes through 0V (zero volts). The spark doesn't always happen, because sometimes the voltage is close to 0V when the circuit is interrupted.

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13y ago

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