INDUCTOR AND INDUCTANCE

An inductor is an electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field. Most inductors are
associated with electromagnetic coils.

The above figure is a part of an electronic circuit showing clearly an inductor at the center and two
electrolytic capacitors by the right. There are about 50 turns of wire wound around the toroid iron core.
When current passes through an inductor, the current induces a voltage across the inductor that is
opposite to the voltage that produced the current. The voltage induced on the inductor is directly
proportional to the time rate of change of the current. Mathematically,

v α di/dt where I is the current through the inductor and v is the voltage induced.

v = L di/dt where L is the constant of proportionality.

L is known as the inductance of the inductor. It is measured in Henry H.

Every coil of wire has an inductance. The inductance is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area,
A of the winding as well as the square of the number of turns, N, and inversely proportional to the
length, l of the winding. In the inductor shown above, the length is the circumference of the ring while
the area can be calculated from the thickness of the ring. Mathematically,

LαA

L α N2

L α 1/l

L α N2A/l

L = μ N2A/l where μ is the constant of proportionality.

μ is called the permeability of the core. When a high inductance is required, iron core is used. Plastic is
used if low inductance is required. The inductance of iron can be up to 10,000 times that of plastic. A
straight wire can be regarded as an inductor with only one turn. The inductance in that case is
insignificant except at very high frequencies encountered in computer and communication circuits. The
inductance of a single wire is also significant in electric power transmission systems where currents are
very high.

The symbol for an inductor is shown below.

How does an inductor store energy?

In the above circuit, a battery is connected to an inductor through a resistor R. when the power is turned
on, the sudden flow of current will build up a high voltage across the inductor in opposition to the
battery current. This will make the initial current to be low but it will steadily increase. When the current
becomes stable, the voltage across the inductor is 0 but the magnetic flux built up in the inductor
remains as long as the current keeps flowing. This zero voltage across the inductor will make the battery
to see the inductor as a short circuit. The presence of the resistor is necessary so as to reduce the
current that will flow when the inductor becomes a short circuit. If the battery voltage should fail, the
energy stored in the inductor in form of magnetic flux will attempt to restore the current flow in the
same direction as the battery current I. This happens because the dying battery current will cause a
reduction in I. The change in I will induce a voltage across the inductor. If this reduction in current is
caused by an open circuit, the stored energy in the inductor may be enough to cause a spark across the
open circuit in an attempt to keep the current flowing in the circuit. This is how the spark plug generates
the fire required to burn petrol in a petrol engine. It is the same principle that generates the spark in arc
welding.
CAPACITIVE REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
It has been stated in our earlier lessons that an A.C. voltage source produces a sinusoid.

A sinusoid can be represented mathematically as v = VmaxSin t where Vmax is the highest amplitude of the
alternating voltage and t is time in seconds. The same sinusoid can also be represented mathematically
as v = VmaxCos t. The difference between the two representations is only in the starting point (phase). It is
convenient to recognise that all the values in a sinusoid repeat after a certain interval ω, called the
angular frequency. The sinusoid can therefore be written as v = VmaxSinωt or v = VmaxCosωt where ω is
measured in radians per second. The period T is the time interval between the same pointin a signal that
is repetitive.
Since the value of the signal repeats after an interval T or 2π in radians, we can deduce that ω = 2π/T.
the frequency f = 1/T. therefore, ω = 2π/T = 2πf. The frequency is measured in Hertz or Hz. This is the
mathematical relationship between the frequency and the angular frequency.

In mathematics, a sinusoid can be represented as a complex number Cosωt + jSinωt. By Euler’s identity,
Cos ωt + jSinwt = ejωt. A sinusoid can therefore be represented as ejωt. It is this representation that we
shall use to analyse the effect of capacitors and inductors in ac circuits.
In the above circuit, v = Vmaxejωt. An ac power supply has no positive and negative as such but it is
conventional to regard the live terminal as positive while the neutral is regarded as the negative
terminal so that an ac source can be analysed the same way as a dc source. If we apply Kirchhoff’s
voltage law round the loop we obtain:

vc = v where vc is the voltage across the capacitor. But the electric charge q stored in q at any moment of
time is given by:

q = C x vc

if we differentiate the above equation with respect to time noting that the capacitance C is a constant,

dq/dt = C dvc/dt

butdq/dt is the same thing as the current I flowing in the circuit and v c = v = Vmaxejωt

dq/dt = I and dvc/dt = jωVmaxejωt = jωv. Hence,

i = jωCv = jωCvc

vc = i/jωC = -j 1/ωCi

In the figure below, we can compare the voltage vR across the resistor R and the voltage vc across the
capacitor C.

vR = Ri

vc = (-j 1/ωC)i
We can conclude that the effect of (-j 1/ωC) in the circuit with a capacitor is similar to the effect of the
resistor R. Xc= -j(1/ωC) is called the reactance of the capacitor. It is measured in ohms just like the
resistance. It is a measure of the opposition to ac current by the capacitor. Note that ω=2πf where f is
the frequency, hence Xc= -j(1/2πfC). The presence of –j means that the reactance value is a complex
kind of resistance that cannot be algebraically added to real resistance.

Example

A 2.8μF capacitor is connected across an alternator producing 240 volts, 50Hz. Calculate the reactance
of the circuit and the current flowing.

Solution

Reactance Xc = -j(1/2πfC) = -j/(2x50x2.8x10-6x22/7) = -j1136Ω

Current I = V/Xc =240/1136 = 0.21A

R-C CIRCUITS
It is quite common for the same circuit to contain both resistors and capacitors. Consider the circuit
below.

If we apply Kirchhoff’s voltage law in the circuit we obtain:

v = vc +vR = i[R -j(1/2πfC)].

The term R -j(1/2πfC) is the equivalent of the combination of a resistance and reactance. It is called
impedance Z. It is a complex quantity. The real part is the resistance while the complex part is the
reactance. Its magnitude can be calculated like that of any other complex number. You square the real
part, add it to the square of the complex part and find the square root of the sum.

Example

A 4.7μF capacitor is connected in series with 1KΩ resistor across an alternator producing 230 volts,
50Hz. Calculate the impedance of the circuit and the current flowing.

Solution

Z = R -j(1/2πfC) = 1000 – j/( 2x3.14x50x4.7x10-6) = 1000 –j677.6 ohms

|Z| = √ ¿2 + 677.62) = 1208Ω

Current I = 230/1208 = 0.19A

INDUCTIVE REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS

Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage law we obtain vL = v

The voltage across an inductor obtained through the equation vL = L di/dt = v = Vmaxejωt

L di/dt = Vmaxejωt

Integrating both sides,

L i = Vmaxejωt/jω

jωLi =Vmaxejωt = v = vL

The voltage vL across an inductor is given by vL = jωLi compared with the voltage across a resistor vR = Ri.
We can conclude that the effect of jωL in the circuit with an inductor is similar to the effect of the
resistor R. XL = jωL is called the inductive reactance. It is treated the same way as capacitive reactance
but it is a positive complex number while capacitive reactance is a negative complex number. When
combined with a resistance, the combination is called impedance Z.

Example

A coil with a resistance of 12Ω and inductance of 0.14H is connected in series with a capacitor of 210μF
across a power supply of 220 volt, 50Hz and 8Ω internal resistance.

i. Draw the circuit diagram showing the devices with all the stated parameters.
ii. Calculate the inductive reactance, capacitive reactance, total impedance and the current flowing.

Solution
L = 0.14H
R = 12 Ω
C = 210μF
r = 8Ω

V = 220 volt, 50Hz

Inductive reactance XL = j2πfL = j44Ω

Capacitive reactance Xc = -j/(2πfC) = -j 15Ω

Z = r + R +XL + Xc = 8+12+j44-j15 = 20+j29

|Z| = √(202 + 292) = 35.2Ω

Current I = V/|Z| = 220/35.2 = 6.25A