01

JULY 5, 2011

Inductor, Inductance,
and Inductive Reactance,
Reactance

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 1

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JULY 5, 2011

An Inductor is a passive electrical

component, formed by a coil of wire,
that exhibits the property of
inductance.
• When a length of wire is formed into
a coil, it becomes an inductor.
• Current through the coil produces an
electromagnetic field.

Physical Characteristic of an Inductor

1. Permeability of the core material

2. Number of turns of wire
3. Cross-sectional area of the core

where

L = inductance in henries (H)

N = number of turns
μ = permeability in henries per meter (H/m)
A = cross-sectional area in meter squared (m2)

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 2

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JULY 2011

Types of Inductor (Fixed and Variable)

1. Air core
In here coils are wound on plastic, ceramic, or other nonmagnetic
forms, as well as those that actually have air inside the windings.
Air core coils have lower inductance than ferromagnetic core coils,
but are often used at high frequencies because they are free from
energy losses called core losses.

2. Iron core
Ferromagnetic-core or iron-core inductors use a magnetic core
made of a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material such as iron or
ferrite to increase the inductance

3. Ferrite core
For higher frequencies, inductors are made with cores of ferrite.

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 3

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JULY 2011

Inductance

It is a measure of a coil’s ability to establish an induced voltage as a result of a change in its

current, and that induced voltage is in a direction to oppose that change in current.

• When there is current through an inductor, an electromagnetic field is established.

• When the current changes, the electromagnetic field also changes.
• An increase in current expands the field, and a decrease in current reduces.
• Changing electromagnetic field causes an induced voltage across the coil in a direction to
oppose the change in current.
• Inductance uses a unit of henry (H).

Energy Storage

An inductor stores energy in the magnetic field created by the current.

where

I = current in amperes
L = inductance in henries
W = energy in joules
TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 4

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JULY 2011

Total Series Inductance

The total inductance LT is the sum of the individual inductances.

Total Parallel Inductance

The reciprocal of the total inductance is equal to the sum of the reciprocals of the individual inductances.

Note:
For series-parallel combinations of inductors, the total inductance is the same way as total resistance in series-
parallel resistive circuits

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 5

 01
JULY 2011

Thank
You for listening!

Let’s discuss Inductor in AC Circuits and its Reactance...

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 6

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JULY 5, 2011

Inductive Reactance

• When the source voltage is held at a constant amplitude and its frequency is increased,
the amplitude of the current decreases.
• When the frequency of the source is decreased, the current amplitude increases.
• A decrease in the amount of current with an increase in frequency for a fixed amount of
voltage indicates that opposition to the current has increased.
• Thus, the inductor offers opposition to current, and that opposition varies directly with
frequency.
• The opposition to sinusoidal current in an inductor is called Inductive Reactance (XL)
with a unit of ohm (Ω).

where

XL = inductive reactance in Ω
XL = 2 f L f = frequency in hertz
L = inductance in henries
2 = one cycle express in
radians revolution

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 7

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JULY 2011

Reactance for Series Inductors

• The total inductance of a series inductors is the sum of the individual inductances.

Reactance for Parallel Inductors

• The total inductance is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the of the individual inductors.

• For two inductors in parallel,

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 8

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JULY 2011

Current Lags Inductor Voltage by 90°

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Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 9

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JULY 2011

Inductor Applications

• Noise Suppression
Inductors in conjunction with capacitors and other components form tuned circuits
which can emphasize or filter out specific signal frequencies. Applications range from
the use of large inductors in power supplies, which in conjunction with filter capacitors
remove residual hums known as the mains hum or other fluctuations from the direct
current output

• Transformer
Two (or more) inductors that have coupled magnetic flux form a transformer, which is a
fundamental component of every electric utility power grid.

• Tuned Circuits
Inductors are used in conjunction with capacitors to provide frequency
selection in communication system

• Reactor
Inductors are also employed in electrical transmission systems, where
they are used to depress voltages from lightning strikes and to limit
switching currents and fault current. In this field, they are more
commonly referred to as reactors

TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 10

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JULY 2011

Thank
You for listening!
Let’s discuss the Basic RLC Circuits...
TOPIC TITLE SY / TERM OF EFFECTIVITY PREPARED BY

Inductor, Inductance, and Inductive Reactance, Reactance 3rd/ 2013-2014 L. Valcos 11