Is it possible to break a circuit electronically?

[U4edot]

Main Question or Discussion Point

I know you can use fueses, switches, and circuit breakers.
But is it possible to use a logic circuit to break a circuit path?

 

[berkeman]

I know you can use fueses, switches, and circuit breakers.
But is it possible to use a logic circuit to break a circuit path?

Sure. Depends on what you mean by "break", though. You can use multiplexers (MUXes) to select which logic signal you want to route into another circuit, for example. You can use logic gates to enable or disable a signal continuing on. You can use a Tri-State output gate to enable or disable a signal from continuing on....

 

[U4edot]

Say I want to use a logic circuit to break the power supply of another electrical component.

 

[U4edot]

OK, I read a bit on Wikipedia
Does anyone know if a demultiplexer can handle AC current?

 

[Bob S]

There are triacs specifically designed to handle AC voltages and currents. There are optocouplers that permit using floating (electrically isolated) logic signals to trigger the triacs.

 

[U4edot]

Thanks for the input I'll look at this when I get off work