关于空气开关其实也没什么可说的，拯救了无数人的发明，可以说是现代技术的结晶，下面分享一个Learn Engineering最近制作的关于空气开关工作原理的动画，一起学习一下：
There is actually not much to say about the air switch. It is an invention that has saved countless people. It can be said to be the crystallization of modern technology. Here is an animation recently produced by Learn Engineering about the working principle of the air switch. Let’s learn together:
空气开关是普通用户接触到最多的电气元件之一，于是就有不少朋友开始疑惑：这个名字好奇怪，为什么要以“空气”为名呢？
The air switch is one of the electrical components that ordinary users come into contact with the most, so many friends have begun to wonder: This name is so strange, why is it named after “air”?
用空气绝缘的（就是说有一定的空气间隙）就叫做“空气断路器”俗称“空气开关” 。它的灭弧介质就是空气。
Those that are insulated with air (that is, there is a certain air gap) are called “air circuit breakers”, commonly known as “air switches”. Its arc extinguishing medium is air.
断路器的工作原理其实就是灭弧原理，断路器开断电路时，在开断瞬间动静触头间会产生电弧，断路器能否开断电路，就是看能否熄灭断开电路时触头间产生的电弧。
The working principle of the circuit breaker is actually the principle of arc extinguishing. When the circuit breaker breaks the circuit, an arc will be generated between the moving and static contacts at the moment of breaking. Whether the circuit breaker can break the circuit depends on whether it can extinguish the contact when the circuit is broken. The arc generated between the heads.
想要搞懂这个问题，我们首先要知道三个名词之间的关系：开关-断路器-空气开关（空气断路器）。
To understand this problem, we first need to know the relationship between three terms: switch-circuit breaker-air switch (air circuit breaker).
开关，所有能够手动分断电路的东西，都能被叫做开关。开关里面，我们最熟悉的应该就是控制灯具所用的墙壁开关了。
Switch, anything that can manually break a circuit can be called a switch. Among switches, the one we are most familiar with is probably the wall switch used to control lamps.
断路器，属于开关的一种。电路在开闭的过程中，很容易打火——电火花，学名叫做“电弧”。电弧轻则损耗开关触点，重则伤人，是电气中的大忌。所以我们需要在开关上进行“灭弧”，具有灭弧能力的开关，就叫做“断路器”。
A circuit breaker is a type of switch. During the opening and closing process of a circuit, it is easy to spark – electric spark, whose scientific name is “arc”. Arcing can cause damage to switch contacts at worst, or injure people at worst. It is a taboo in electricity. Therefore, we need to perform “arc extinguishing” on the switch. A switch with arc extinguishing capability is called a “circuit breaker”.
空气开关——断路器属于开关的一种，所以“空气开关”又叫“空气断路器”。断路器的灭弧方法有很多种，其中有一种方法是把电弧拉长，让电弧在空气中自然冷却，直至熄灭。我们可以看看它的灭弧装置（灭弧罩）：
Air switch – circuit breaker is a type of switch, so “air switch” is also called “air circuit breaker”. There are many ways to extinguish arcs in circuit breakers. One of them is to lengthen the arc and let it cool naturally in the air until it is extinguished. We can take a look at its arc extinguishing device (arc extinguishing cover):
就是这个红色的小部件，上面有一排金属片。开关触点处产生电弧后，会被吸引到这些金属片上。每两个金属片之间都可以产生一段新的电弧，然后再向后面的金属片上传导——直至把电弧拉扯到与整个灭弧罩的长度相同。
It’s this little red part with a row of metal pieces on it. When an arc occurs at the switch contacts, it is attracted to these metal pieces. A new arc can be generated between each two metal pieces, and then conducted to the following metal pieces – until the arc is stretched to the same length as the entire arc extinguishing cover.
长度增加了，散热速度也就快了。你可以把电弧理解成火苗，没有了足够的热量，它就无法继续存在了。
The longer the length, the faster the heat dissipation. You can think of an arc as a flame. Without enough heat, it cannot continue to exist.
空气开关是成本最低廉的一种灭弧方式，没有之一。但它并不是万能的，比如有些电路的电压比较高，产生的电弧很大，空气开关就不能用了；有些场所一点火星都见不得，自然也不能使用空气开关……
Air switch is the cheapest arc extinguishing method, bar none. But it is not omnipotent. For example, the voltage of some circuits is relatively high and the arc generated is very large, so the air switch cannot be used; in some places, there is no spark at all, so naturally the air switch cannot be used…
所以除了空气开关以外，还有许多灭弧方式。比如真空灭弧（真空开关），是让触点直接在真空环境下接触，没有空气，压根无法产生电弧；比如油浸开关，是利用冷却油包裹电弧，达到冷却的目的等等。
Therefore, in addition to air switches, there are many arc extinguishing methods. For example, vacuum arc extinguishing (vacuum switch) allows the contacts to directly contact in a vacuum environment. Without air, no arc can be generated at all; for example, oil-immersed switches use cooling oil to wrap the arc to achieve cooling purposes, etc.
空气开关与漏电保护器的区别： The difference between air switch and leakage protector:
空气开关与漏电开关共性：都是开关。 Air switches and leakage switches have something in common: they are both switches.
空气开关与漏电开关差别：空气开关是发生短路事故或故障才动作跳闸，而漏电保护开关是人身发生触电时才动作跳闸；空气开关容量可大可小，而漏电保护开关容量不易做大，一般单相居多。
The difference between the air switch and the leakage switch: the air switch will trip when a short-circuit accident or failure occurs, while the leakage protection switch will trip when a person gets an electric shock; the capacity of the air switch can be large or small, while the capacity of the leakage protection switch is not easy to increase, generally Mostly single phase.
空气开关与漏电开关原理不一样，结构更不一样，绝对不能替代。
The principles of air switches and leakage switches are different, and their structures are even different. They cannot be replaced.
断路器如何工作的： How a circuit breaker works:
End
来源：制造原理 Source: Manufacturing Principles
资料源：电工电气学习 Source: Electrician Electrical Learning
视频源：火电百科、Learn Engineering
Video source: Thermal Power Encyclopedia, Learn Engineering
视频翻译：宝石部落 Video Translation: Gem Tribe
