INDUCTOR

INDUCTOR
Aninductor, also called acoilorreactor, is
apassivetwo-terminalelectrical
componentwhichresistschangesinelectric
currentpassingthroughit.
It consists of a conductor such as a wire,
usuallywoundintoacoil.
When a current flows through it,energyis
stored temporarily in amagnetic fieldin the
coil.

 Inductorischaracterizedbyitsinductance,the
ratioofthevoltagetotherateofchangeof
current,whichhasunitsofhenries(H).
Inductorshavevaluesthattypicallyrangefrom1
H(106H)to1H.Manyinductorshave
amagneticcoremadeofironorferriteinsidethe
coil,whichservestoincreasethemagneticfield
andthustheinductance.
Alongwithcapacitorsandresistors,inductors
areoneofthethreepassivelinearcircuit
elementsthatmakeupelectriccircuits.

SYMBOLS

Four physical factors that determine inductor inductance:

1)NumberofwindingsorturnsTheinductanceofacoilisproportionalto
thesquareofthenumberofturns.
2) Permeability of the core The inductance of a coil increases as the
permeabilityofthecorematerialincreases.Coilswithironcoreshavehigher
permeabilitycausedbythecorematerial.
3) Cross-sectional area The inductance of a coil increasesas the crosssectionalareaofthecoreincreases.
4)LengthTheinductanceofacoilincreasesasitslengthdecreases.

TypesofInductors

Air core inductor

Thetermair core coildescribesaninductorthatdoesnot
useamagneticcoremadeofaferromagneticmaterial.
The term refers to coils wound on plastic, ceramic, or
othernonmagneticforms,aswellasthosethathaveonly
airinsidethewindings.
Air core coils have lower inductance than ferromagnetic
core coils, but are often used at high frequencies
because they are free from energy losses calledcore
lossesthatoccurinferromagneticcores,whichincrease
withfrequency.

Ferromagnetic core inductor

Ferromagnetic-core or iron-core inductors
use
amagnetic
coremade
of
aferromagneticorferrimagneticmaterial
such as iron orferriteto increase the
inductance.
A magnetic core can increase the
inductance of a coil by a factor of several
thousand, by increasing the magnetic field
duetoitshighermagneticpermeability.

Variable inductor
Probablythemostcommontypeofvariableinductor
today is one with a moveable ferrite magnetic core,
which can be slid or screwed in or out of the coil.
Moving the core farther into the coil increases
thepermeability, increasing the magnetic field and
theinductance.
Many inductors used in radio applications (usually
lessthan100MHz)useadjustablecoresinorderto
tune such inductors to their desired value, since
manufacturing processes have certain tolerances
(inaccuracy).

Tappedinductor
Tappedinductorisacoiltowhichelectrical
accessisavailableatmorepointsthan
onlythetwoends.Connectionpointsare
providedatoneormorepoints
onthecoilthatarebetweentheends.
Eachsuchpointiscalleda'tap'

Energy
Energyisstoredinthemagneticfield
aroundtheinductor.

1
2
E LI
2

Inductorspecification
Text Marking

ValuesareinmicroHenries(H)
Firsttwodigitsarethevalue
Thirddigitisthemultiplier
IfthereisanR,itsactsasadecimalpoint,andthereisnomultiplier
Examples:
101=10*101H=100H
4R7=4.7H

Suffix
Sometimestheprecisionoftheinductorwillbemarked,usingafinalletterF,G,
J,K,orM

F=+/-1%
G=+/-2%
J=+/-5%
K=+/-10%
M=+/-20%

Color Code Markings

InductorsinParallel

L eq 1 L1 1 L2 1 L3 1 L4

InductorsinSeries

L eq L1 L2 L3 L4