ECM1102: ELECTRONIC

ENGINEERING

Inductors and RL Circuits

Dr Anna Baldycheva
Department of Engineering
 SELF-INDUCTANCE
Inductance is the property of a conductor to oppose a change in current.

Self-inductance is usually just called inductance, symbolized by L. Self-

inductance is a measure of a coil’s ability to establish an induced voltage as a
result of a change in its current. The induced voltage always opposes the
change in current, which is basically a statement of Lenz’s law.

S N
 SELF-INDUCTANCE
$%
The induced voltage is given by the formula, ! = #
$&

Where L is the inductance in Henries (H).

What is the inductance if 37 mV is induced across

a coil if the current is changing at a rate of 680 mA/s?

di
vind =L
dt
Rearranging,
vind 0.037 V
L= = = 54 mH
di 0.68 A/s
dt
 THE BASIC INDUCTOR
One henry is the inductance of a coil when a current,
changing at a rate of one ampere per second, induces
one volt across the coil. Most coils are much smaller
than 1 H.
$%
Voltage across inductor, ! = # $&

The effect of inductance is greatly

magnified by adding turns and winding
them on a magnetic material. Large
inductors and transformers are wound
on a core to increase the inductance.
Magnetic core
 Factors affecting inductance
Four factors affect the amount of inductance for
a coil. The equation for the inductance of a coil
is:
" ) #'
!=
!

where
• ! = inductance in H
• " = number of turns of wire
• # = permeability in H/m = #$ #%
• & = coil length in meters
• ' = cross-sectional area in m2.
 Factors affecting inductance

What is the inductance of a 2 cm long, 150 turn coil

wrapped on an low carbon steel core that is 0.5 cm
diameter? The permeability of low carbon steel is 2.5
x10-4 H/mk.

A = πr = π ( 0.0025 m) = 7.85 ´10 m

2 2 -5 2

N 2µ A
L=
l
(150 t ) ( 2.5 ´10 Wb/At-m )( 7.85 ´10 m )
2 -4 -5 2

=
0.02 m
= 22 mH
 Practical Inductors
In addition to inductance, actual inductors have
winding resistance (RW) due to the resistance of
the wire and winding capacitance (CW) between
turns. An equivalent circuit for a practical
inductor including these effects is shown:

Notice that the winding

resistance is in series with
the coil and the winding
capacitance is in parallel
with both.
 Types of Inductors
There are a variety of inductors, depending on
the amount of inductance required and the
application. Some, with fine wires, are
encapsulated and may appear like a resistor.

Common symbols for inductors (coils) are:

Air core Iron core Ferrite core Variable

 Practical Inductors

Inductors come in a variety of sizes. A

few common ones are shown here.

Encapsulated Torroid coil Variable

 Series Inductors
When inductors are connected in series, the total
inductance is the sum of the individual inductors.

LT = L1 + L2 + L3 + ...Ln

If a 1.5 mH inductor is
L L
connected in series with an 680 1 2

µH inductor, the total 1

.
5 m
H 6
80µ
H
inductance is 2.18 mH
 Parallel Inductors
When inductors are connected in parallel, the total
inductance is smaller than the smallest one. The
general equation for inductors in parallel is

1
LT =
1 1 1 1
+ + + ... +
L1 L2 L3 LT

If a 1.5 mH inductor is connected

in parallel with an 680 µH L1 L2
1.5mH 680µH
inductor, the total inductance is
468 µH
 Inductors in DC circuits

When an inductor is Vinitial

connected in series with a

resistor and dc source, the
current change is exponential.
0 t
Inductor
Inductorvoltage afterswitch
voltage after switch closure
closure

R
Ifinal

0 t
CurrentCurrent
after switch closure
after switch closure
 Inductors in DC circuits

The same shape curves are

seen if a square wave is VS
used for the source.

VR

L VL
VS
 Universal exponential curves

The universal curves can be applied to general formulas

for the current (or voltage) curves for RL circuits. The
general current formula is

! " = $% + ($( − $% )+ ,-./0

$1 = final value of current
$! = initial value of current
! = instantaneous value of current
The final current is greater than the initial current
when the inductive field is building, or less than the initial
current when the field is collapsing.
 Universal exponential curves
,-//
! " = $% + ($( − $% )+
, - ⁄/
! " = $0 (1 − + )
If 100% 99%
Specific values for 95%
98%

current and voltage 80%

86%

can be read from a Rising exponential

universal curve. For an Percent of final value 63%

RL circuit, the time

60%
34
$0 =
constant is 40%
5
37%
Falling exponential
L
τ= 20%
14%
R 5%
2% 1%
Ii 0
0 1t 2t 3t 4t 5t
Number of time constants

! " = $0 + ,-//
Inductors in AC Circuits
 Inductive Phase Shift
$%
!=#
$&
When a sine wave is
applied to an inductor, VL 0
there is a phase shift
90°
between voltage and
current such that
voltage always leads
the current by 90o. I 0
 Sinusoidal response of RL circuits
Just like with RC circuits, when both resistance and inductance are
in a series circuit, the phase angle between the applied voltage and
total current is between 0° and 90°, depending on the values of
resistance and reactance.

VR VL

V R lags V S VL lead s VS

R L
VS

I lags V S
 Inductive Reactance
Inductive reactance is the opposition to ac
by an inductor. The equation for inductive
reactance is:

!" = $% = 2'$%

The reactance of a 33 µH inductor when a

frequency of 550 kHz is applied is 114 W
 Inductive Reactance
When inductors are in series, the total reactance is the sum of the
individual reactances. That is,

X L(tot ) = X L1 + X L2 + X L3 + ××× + X Ln

Assume three 220 µH inductors are in series with a 455 kHz ac

source. What is the total reactance?

The reactance of each inductor is

X L = 2p fL = 2p ( 455 kHz )( 220 μH ) = 629 W
X L(tot ) = X L1 + X L2 + X L3
= 629 W + 629 W + 629 W = 1.89 kW
 Inductive Reactance
When inductors are in parallel, the total reactance is the reciprocal of
the sum of the reciprocals of the individual reactances. That is,

1
X L(tot ) =
1 1 1 1
+ + + ××× +
X L1 X L2 X L3 X Ln

If the three 220 µH inductors from the last example are placed in
parallel with the 455 kHz ac source, what is the total reactance?

The reactance of each inductor is 629 W

1 1
X L(tot ) = = = 210 W
1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + +
X L1 X L2 X L3 629 W 629 W 629 W
 Power in an Inductor
True Power: Ideally, inductors do not dissipate power.
However, a small amount of power is dissipated in winding
resistance given by the equation:

Ptrue = (Irms)2RW
Reactive Power: Reactive power is a measure of the rate at
which the inductor stores and returns energy. One form of
the reactive power equation is:
Pr = $%&'(%&' = (%&' ) *+
The unit for reactive power is the VAR.
 Power in an Inductor

The quality factor (Q) of a coil is given by the ratio of reactive

power to true power.
I2XL
Q= 2
I RW

For a series circuit, I cancels, leaving:

XL
Q=
RW
 Sinusoidal response of RL circuits
As with RC circuits we can use phasor analysis to find the total
impedance of a series RL circuit – it is the phasor sum of ! and "#.
• ! is plotted along the positive x-axis.
• "# is plotted along the positive y-axis.
)* +,
• $= tan
-

• . is the diagonal, . = !/ + "1 /

Z Z
Impedance triangle.
XL XL

q R q R

Inductor voltage leads current, and thus the resistor voltage by 90°
 Sinusoidal response of RL circuits
Analysis of series RL circuits
Ohm’s law is applied to series RL circuits using Z, V, and I.

V V
V = IZ I= Z=
Z I
Because I is the same everywhere in a series circuit, you can obtain the
voltage phasors by simply multiplying the impedance phasors by the
current.
 Sinusoidal response of RL circuits

A. Sketch the impedance triangle and show the values for R = 1.2
kW and XL = 960 W.

!= #$ + &' $ = (1200)$ +960$ = 1.33 kΩ

78 9: 78 <=>
3= tan = tan = 39°
; 8$>>

B. Sketch the voltage phasors if the current is 10 mArms.

• The voltage phasors can be found from Ohm’s law, multiply
each impedance phasor by 10 mA.

Z = 1.33 kW x 10 mA VS = 13.3 V
= VL = 9.6 V
XL = 960 W
q 39o q 39o
R = 1.2 kW VR = 12 V
 Sinusoidal response of RL circuits
Phasor diagrams that have reactance phasors can only be drawn for
a single frequency because X is a function of frequency.

Increasing f

As frequency changes, the Z3

XL 3

impedance triangle for an RL

circuit changes as illustrated here
because XL increases with Z2 XL 2
increasing f. This determines the
frequency response of RL circuits Z1
XL 1

q1 q 2 q3

R
 RL high-pass filter/ phase-lead circuits
• RL circuit can be used to produce a phase lead by a specific
amount between an input voltage and an output by taking the
output across the inductor.
• Also a basic high-pass filter, a circuit that passes high frequencies
and rejects all others.
&'() (+) 1 Phase:
Gain = = 2
&-. (+) 1 + 2⁄24+5 6 < = tan>?
24+5

R Vout
Vin
f
Vout Vin
Vin L Vout (phase lead)

f
q VR
 RL low-pass filter/ phase-lag circuits
• Reversing the components in the previous circuit produces a
circuit that is a basic lag network.
• This circuit is also a basic low-pass filter, a circuit that passes low
frequencies and rejects all others.

&'() (+) 1 Phase:

Gain = = 23+4
&-. (+) 1 + 23+4⁄5 6 < = tan>?
5
L VL Vin Vin
Vout
Vin R Vout
f
f (phase lag)

Vout
 Frequency response of RL filters
Series RL circuits have a frequency response similar to series RC circuits.
In the case of the low-pass response shown here, the output is taken
across the resistor.
Vin Vout

10 V dc 10 mH 10 V dc
0 10 V dc 100 W 0 !"#$ (&) 1
=
!() (&) 1 + .⁄20&1 2

10 V rms 10 mH 8.46 V rms

ƒ = 1 kHz 100 W Cut-off frequency:
.
&A =
10 V rms 201
10 mH 1.57 V rms Vout (V)

ƒ = 10 kHz 100 W
9.98
9
8.46
8
7
10 V rms 6
0.79 V rms 5
10 mH
4
ƒ = 20 kHz 100 W
3
2
1.57
0.79 1
f (kHz)
0.1 1 10 20 100
 Frequency response of RL filters
Reversing the position of the R and L components, produces the high-
pass response. The output is taken across the inductor.

Vin Vout Vout (V)

10 V dc 100 W 9.87
10
10 V dc 10 mH 9
0 0 V dc
8
7
6
5.32 5
4
10 V rms 100
3
0.63 V rms
ƒ = 100 Hz 10 mH 2
0.63 1
0 f (kHz)
0.01 0.1 1 10

10 V rms

100 W
5.32 V rms
6789 (/) 1
ƒ = 1 kHz 10 mH =
6<= (/) 1 + 24/5⁄2 A

10 V rms 9.87 V rms

Cut-off frequency:
100 W
10 mH 2
ƒ = 10 kHz
/0 =
245
 Sinusoidal response of parallel RL circuits
As with parallel RC circuits, it is useful to employ conductance, susceptance
and admittance. Recall:

Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance:

1
!=
$

Inductive susceptance is the reciprocal of reactance:

1
%& =
'&

Admittance is the reciprocal of impedance:

1
(=
)
 Sinusoidal response of parallel RL circuits
In a parallel RL circuit, the admittance phasor is the sum of the
conductance and inductive susceptance phasors.
• The magnitude of the susceptance is Y = # $ + &' $
,- ./
• The magnitude of the phase angle is ( = tan
0
• Note: &' is plotted along the negative y-axis.

VS G BL
BL Y
 Sinusoidal response of parallel RL circuits

A. Draw the admittance phasor diagram for the circuit (R = 1 kΩ, L = 25.3 mH).
# #
!= = 1 mS () = = 0.63 mS
$ *+(#- ./0)(*2.4 5/) VS

9= ! * + () * = (1 mS)* +(0.63 mS)* = 1.18 mS f = 10 kHz

B. If the voltage is 10 V, sketch the current phasors. The current phasors can be
found from Ohm’s law (< = > ⁄9). Multiply each admittance phasor by 10 V.

G = 1.0 mS IR = 10 mA
x 10 V
=
Y = 1.18 mS IS = 11.8 mA
BL =
0.629 mS IL =
6.29 mA
Power in AC Circuits
 The Power Triangle
Multiplying the voltage phasors by Irms gives the power triangle
(equivalent to multiplying the impedance phasors by I2).
Apparent power is the product of the magnitude of the
current and magnitude of the voltage and is plotted along the
hypotenuse of the power triangle.

The rms current in the earlier example was 10

mA (slide 45). Show the power triangle:

x 10 mA =

VS = 13.3 V Pa = 133 mVA Pr =

VL = 9.6
96 mVAR
V
39o 39o
VR = 12 V Ptrue = 120 mW
 Power Factor
The power factor is the relationship between the apparent
power in volt-amperes and true power in watts. Volt-
amperes multiplied by the power factor equals true power.
Power factor is defined mathematically as

PF = cos q

The power factor can vary from 0 for a purely reactive

circuit to 1 for a purely resistive circuit.
 Apparent Power
Apparent power consists of two components; a true
power component, that does the work, and a reactive
power component, that is simply power shuttled back
and forth between source and load.

• Some components such as

transformers, motors, and
generators are rated in VA Ptrue (W)
rather than watts.
• Power factor corrections for an Pr (VAR)
inductive load (motors,
generators, etc.) are done by
adding a parallel capacitor, Pa (VA)
which has a canceling effect.