Basic Relay Operation

Before extending to the various types of relays, i will first explain what and how the basic relay operates. Each relay has two mechanical parts inside. The first one is the contact(s) of the relay. The contacts operates similarly to the contacts of a simple switch or pushbutton. You should consider the contacts as a pair of metals like the following diagram:

The two terminals operates as a switch. When the contacts are 'in contact' then the current flows from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. There are two types of contacts: the NO and the NC. NO stands for Normal Open contact, while NC stands for Normal Closed contact. The Normal Open is a contact like the one showed in the previous illustration. When the contact is still, then no current flows through it (because it is an OPEN circuit). On the other hand, a Normal Closed contact allows the current to flow when the contact is still. Bellow i illustrate both of these contacts:

You may notice that the NC contact is turned upside-down compared to the NO contact. This is done in purpose. This way, both contacts (NO and NC) will change state if a force is applied to the left metal heading from UP to DOWN. The following animation shows how a NO contact operates by lighting a light bulb:

As for the NC contacts, it works exactly opposite as the NO contacts. Look the following animation: