Types of Relay - Which One Should You Use? | tecno4 | Scoop.it
A relay is an electrically operated switch, the relay opens when the two contacts are disconnected, and the relay turns on when the two contacts touch. They are designed to be controlled with low voltages like 3.3V like the ESP32, ESP8266 etc or 5V like your Arduino to change the state of an electric circuit from one state to another.

They often used to isolate low voltage circuits from a high voltage circuit to control high voltage devices.