Is Poor Contact a Short Circuit or an Open Circuit?

[LaArabella]

Poor contact is an open circuit. Poor contact refers to situations in a circuit where connectors, buttons, or knobs experience oxidation or poor component alignment, resulting in an open circuit. In this case, no current flows through the circuit experiencing poor contact. A short circuit occurs when both ends of an electrical appliance are connected by a conductor, effectively placing the appliance and the conductor in parallel. Since the resistance of the connecting conductor is very low, according to the parallel current division principle, the majority of the current flows through the conductor, leaving almost no current in the appliance. If an internal part of the appliance is short-circuited, it can cause excessive current to pass through the appliance (due to the very low resistance of the short circuit), which can easily damage the appliance.