3 WAY SWITCH

3 WAY SWITCH: DC THREE WAY SWITCH: animation of the movement of electrons (the opposite of conventional current) in DC three way switch arrangement.

If two 3-way switches are arranged as illustrated then the lights can be turned on or off at either end of the circuit. You come home at night and switch on the hall and stairway light to see your way to bed. Once upstairs you can switch the lights off again from the upper landing. It would be annoying, inconvenient, dangerous and pointless if you had to go down the stairs again to switch the lights off! You'd have to climb the stairs again in the dark!

As you can see, the current will travel through either the upper or the lower of the two wires that connect the two switches. This animation uses a regular single cell to supply current. In a real situation (in a house) it would be AC (alternating current).