Breakers

Breakers most often refers to circuit breakers, protective devices in electrical systems that automatically interrupt current when a fault or overload is detected. They help prevent equipment damage, reduce fire risk, and allow safe disconnection of power. Circuit breakers are used in residential, commercial, and industrial installations and come in various technologies, including thermal, magnetic, and electronic trip mechanisms. They are typically mounted in electrical panels and must be selected based on system voltage, current rating, and interrupting capacity.

Operation and ratings: Breakers monitor current, and a fault condition triggers an opening of the circuit. Thermal breakers use heating from prolonged overloads to trip, magnetic breakers respond to rapid high currents such as short circuits, and electronic breakers employ solid-state sensing. Many modern panels combine traditional breakers with residual-current devices (RCDs) or ground-fault protection to detect leakage. Breakers are rated by voltage, amperage, interrupting capacity, and response characteristics, and must be tested and replaced when worn or damaged.

Breakers in oceanography are waves that break as they approach the shore. As deep-water waves travel into shallower water, their speed decreases and wave height increases, causing the crest to topple. Breaker types include spilling breakers, which pour down the face; plunging breakers, which curl and crash; and surging breakers, which surge up the beach with little curling. Breakers contribute to coastal processes, influence sediment transport, affect surfing conditions, and pose hazards such as strong currents and coastal erosion.