The AC-1 resistive rating of 10 A at 24 V and 6 A at 230 V tells you the continuous current it can carry for heater or lighting loads. For motor duty, the key numbers are 18.5 kW at 500 V and 10 kW at 690 V — that's the motor power it can switch under AC-3 (starting/running) conditions. The switching frequency varies by duty: up to 1 200 cycles per hour for AC-1 resistive, 1 000 for AC-3 motor starts, and 250 for AC-4 plugging/reversing. That last number matters if your application does frequent inching or reversing — it's the limiting factor for contactor life in those cycles.
The screw terminals accept 2x (0.75... 16 mm²) solid or stranded for the main circuit, and 2x (0.25... 2.5 mm²) solid for control wiring. Strip length and torque values follow standard Siemens terminal specifications; no special tooling required.