Q:

How do I do a basic MOSFET wiring?

I have searched "how to wire a MOSFET" in a few different wordings and looked at a bunch of MOSFET wiring diagrams, but I can only seem to find the more complex examples of a MOSFET wiring.
Currently I have a low voltage switch (coming from a RaspberryPi) I want to use to turn on and off some 5v lighting.
The four wires I have are the positive and negative for my switch (low voltage), and the positive and negative for the light (5V).
I'm not sure if my scenario is the right one for whatever the most basic form of MOSFET wiring is, but I'd like to start by understanding this.
What is the basic way of wiring a MOSFET?  Could someone please show me a diagram?
EDIT:  so far, this instructable is the best novice description I have found.
EDIT 2: This question pertains to a basic example of MOSFET wiring.  My scenario happens to exist in a different question, but the answer I'm looking for is not simply how to solve my particular problem, but (in the most basic case) how to wire a MOSFET.

P.S.  I know this is probably an incredibly basic question to anyone who knows the answer, but as stated above, I'm only finding answers to complex questions about MOSFETS on the internet, and the part I bought did not come with what is most likely a very simple diagram.

A:

The problem with your question is that there is no single way to wire them. There are two major types of Mosfets, and multiple topologies (ways to wire them), with each having a different usage.
Ignoring most of them, the simplest is a Mosfet as a switch.

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
A N-Channel as a Low Side, Active High switch, or a P-Channel as a High Side, Active Low switch. This works to turn on/off the Load based on the Gate voltage.
Note: Since your RPi has a 3.3V output, you will need a 3.3V Logic Level mosfet, or will need to use a mosfet driver circuit, making it even more complicated.

