What is inductance?

Inductance is the property in an electrical circuit where a change in the electric current through that circuit induces an electromotive force (EMF) that opposes the change in current. What is inductor?

An inductor or a reactor is a device that can store energy in a magnetic field created by the electric current passing through it. An inductor's ability to store magnetic energy is measured by its inductance, in units of henries. Typically an inductor is a conducting wire shaped as a coil, the loops helping to create a strong magnetic field inside the coil due to Ampere's Law
1

Aluminum and most metals do not conduct electricity as good as copper. Insulators are materials that have just the opposite effect on the flow of electrons. They do not let electrons flow very easily from one atom to another. Insulators are materials whose atoms have tightly bound electrons. These electrons are not free to roam around and be shared by neighboring atoms. Some common insulator materials are glass, plastic, rubber, air, and wood. Inductors are one of the basic electronic components used in electronics where current and voltage change with time, due to the ability of inductors to delay and reshape alternating currents.
2

In everyday speak inductors are sometimes called chokes, but this refers to only a particular type and purpose of inductor. Source = source emf and source current Induced Induced current: Induced current is the current generated in a loop due to changing magnetic flux. Induced emf: Induced emf is the work done per unit charge in producing an induced current. Electronic symbol for inductor

 B
L

R I

1st example
Consider

a circuit consisting of a switch, a resistor, and a source of emf (Fig. above) closed the source current does not immediately jump from zero to its maximum value /R.
5

Switch

As the source current increases with time, the magnetic flux through the circuit loop due to this current also increases with time. This increasing flux creates an induced emf in the circuit. The direction of the induced emf would cause an induced current in the loop. This would establish a magnetic field that would oppose to the change in the source magnetic field.

Thus, the direction of the induced emf is opposite the direction of the source emf; this results in a gradual rather than instantaneous increase in the source current to its final equilibrium value. This effect is called self-induction because the changing flux through the circuit and the resultant induced emf arise from the the circuit itself. The emf L set up in this case is called a self-induced emf or a back emf.

An inductor is a circuit element that stores magnetic field. If the magnetic field is changing, i.e. the current is changing. It will have an induced EMF across it with a magnitude proportional to the rate of change of current: di/dt = -L (di/dt) The proportionality constant L is called the inductance of the device.
8

It is a property of the device depends on geometry or windings and does not depend on the current. Inductance is measured in units of henrys, where 1 henry = 1 volt-second/ampere. As per Lenzs Law, the sign of the EMF is determined such that it opposes the change in the magnetic flux through the device. When going from point a to point b on each end of the device, the EMF is given by = -N (d/dt) --------------------- (1) = -L (di/dt) -----------------------(2)

(1) = (2)

N=Li L=N/I
9

For a solenoid, B = 0ni where n is the number of turns per unit length n = N/ l L = N / i L = (nl) (BA) / i = (nl) (o ni)(A) / i = n2 o Al L = n2 o V

Where V is the volume of the solenoid

10

For a toroid, B= (oNi) / 2 r = B dA = B hdr = Bh dr = [(oNi) h / 2 ] r2r1 r = [(oNi) h / 2 ] ln (r2/r1) L= N / i = [(oN2) h / 2 ] ln (r2/r1)

r1

r2

11

I a R + S +

L
b

A series connection of resistor and inductor Switch S is thrown closed at t=0 the current in the circuit begins to increase and a back emf that opposes the increasing current is induced in the inductor. The back emf is, from Equation
L

dI L dt
12

Because the current is increasing, dI/dt is positive; dI thus L is negative L L

dt

This negative value reflects the decrease in electric potential that occurs in going from a to b across the inductor, as indicated by the +ve and -ve signs (Figure above). Kirchhoffs loop rule (clockwise direction) :
I a R + S +

Apply

L
b

dI IR L dt

13

To find the current, I in the circuit as a function of time. we change variables for convenience, letting :
x

so that dx = - dI With these substitutions, we can write Equation

x L dx R dt 0

dx x x ln xo

R dt L R t L
14

where xo = the value of x at time t=0 Taking the antilohrarithm :

x oe

Rt / L

Because I=0 at t=0, from the definition of x : xo= /R. Hence, this last expression is equivalent to

I
Rt / L

Rt / L

(1 e

Effect of the inductor

15

The current does not increase instantly to its final equilibrium value when the switch is closed but instead increases according to an exponential function. We can also write this expression as
I R (1 e
t/

where the constant circuit

is the time constant of the RL =L/R

is the time it takes the current in the circuit to reach (1-e-1) = 0.63 of its final value /R.
16

/R
0.63 R

L/ R
t

The equilibrium value of the current, which occurs as t approaches infinity, is /R (by setting dI/dt=0 in Eq. and solving for the current I). At equilibrium, the change in the current is zero. Thus, the current initially increases very rapidly and then approaches the equilibrium value /R as t approaches infinity.
17

Taking the first time derivative of this equation I (1 e t / ) R

dI dt L e
t/

The time rate of change of the current is a maximum (equal to /L) at t=0 and falls off exponentially to zero as t approaches infinity
dI dt

IL
t
18

a S2

S1

- + RL circuit (contains two switches that operate such that when one is closed, the other is opened. S1 closed for a length of time sufficient to allow the current to reach its equilibrium value /R. The circuit is described by the outer loop S2 closed, S1 opened the circuit is described by upper loop
19

The lower loop no longer influences the behavior of the circuit a circuit with no battery ( = 0). Kirchhoffs loop rule to the upper loop, we obtain
IR L dI dt 0

The solution of the differential equation

R where = the emf of the batery and Io= /R is the current at t=0, the instant at which S2 is closed as S1 is opened
20

t/

Ioe

t/

No inductor in the circuit - the current would immediately decrease to zero With inductor in the circuit it acts to oppose the decrease in the current and to maintain the current. A graph of the current in the circuit versus time shows that the current is continuously decreasing with time The slop dI/dt is always negative and has its maximum value at t=0. The negative slope signifies that L= - L(dI/dt) is now positive; that is, point a in Figure (pg 19) is at a lower electric potential than point b.
21

I1

Consider two loops: loop 1 and loop 2 (see Figure above). A current I1 flowing through loop 1 will produce a magnetic field at the position of loop 2 equal

22

The magnetic flux through loop 2 is equal to

Here, M21 is called the mutual inductance of the two loops. It is a purely geometrical quantity that depends on the sizes, shapes and relative positions of the two loops. It does not change if we switch the role of loop 1 and loop 2: The flux through loop 2 when we run a current I around loop 1 exactly the same as the flux through loop 1 when we same current I around loop 2.
23

Besides inducing an emf in a nearby loop, the changing current in loop 1 also induces an emf in loop 1. The flux through loop 1 generated by the current in loop 1 is equal to

The constant of proportionality is called the self inductance. The unit of inductance is Henrie (H).

24

45. Two inductors having self-inductances L1 and L2 are connected in parallel as shown in Figure below. The mutual inductance between the two inductors is M. Determine the equivalent self-inductance Leq for the system (Figure below).

25