Basic Electrical Technology

[ELE 1001]

Inductor
Lecture 5

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Topics discussed in the previous class

 Star and Delta connection of resistors

 Star-Delta Transformations

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Topics for discussion in this class
 What is an Inductor?

 Transient behaviour of an Inductive circuit

 Inductor as an energy storage element

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Inductors
 Inductor is a passive electric device that stores energy in its
magnetic field when a current flows through it

 A coil of wire wound on a core

o Eg.: Air core Inductor, iron core inductor

 Circuit representation is

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Inductive Circuit
 Inductance (L) :
Property which opposes the rate of change of current
 The voltage induced in the inductor is proportional to the
rate of change of current flowing through it
L
o Unit is Henry (H)
i
_
+e
L
𝑑𝑖 𝑑∅
o 𝑒𝐿 = 𝐿 =𝑁
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑∅
o 𝐿=𝑁
𝑑𝑖
Where L is self-inductance

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Inductive Circuit
 For a coil uniformly wound on a non-magnetic core of uniform
section, self inductance is given by

𝜇0 𝐴𝑁 2
𝐿=
𝑙
Where

𝑙 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠

𝐴 = 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑁 = 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙

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Equivalent Inductance
 Inductors in series
L
1 L
2 L
3

𝑳𝒆𝒒 = 𝑳𝟏 + 𝑳𝟐 + … … + 𝑳𝒏
 Inductors in Parallel
L1

L2 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= + + …….+
𝑳𝒆𝒒 𝑳𝟏 𝑳𝟐 𝑳𝒏
L3

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Growth of current in an inductive circuit
Applying KVL, t =0
R
𝒅𝒊
𝑽 −𝑳 − 𝑹𝒊=𝟎
𝒅𝒕
vL L
V
Initial Conditions, i
𝑨𝒕 𝒕 = 𝟎 𝒔𝒆𝒄, 𝒊 = 𝟎 𝑨

Final current & voltage equation,

𝑽 −
𝑹𝒕
−
𝑹
𝒕
𝒊= 𝟏− 𝒆 𝑳 𝒗𝑳 = 𝑽 𝒆 𝑳
𝑹

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Growth of current in an inductive circuit
1.2

V
1
R

0.8

0.6
Current

0.4

0.2

0 Time

Time Constant (𝜏): Time taken by the current through the inductor to
reach its final steady state value, had the initial rate of rise been maintained
constant
𝐿
𝜏=
𝑅
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Decay of current in an Inductive Circuit
 Initial current is through inductor is I0 = V/R
 At t =0, switch is moved from position a to b
A
R

Applying KVL, t=0

B
vL L
𝒅𝒊 V
𝑳 +𝑹𝒊=𝟎 i
𝒅𝒕

Using initial conditions and solving,

−𝑹𝒕 𝑹𝒕
𝒊 = 𝑰𝟎 𝒆 𝑳 − 𝑳
𝒗𝑳 = −𝑽 𝒆

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Decay of current in an Inductive Circuit
1.2

V
1
R

0.8
Current

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 Time

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Energy Stored in an Inductor
 Instantaneous power,
𝒅𝒊
𝒑 = 𝒗𝑳 . 𝒊 = 𝑳 𝒊
𝒅𝒕

 Energy absorbed in ‘dt’ time is

𝒅𝒘 = 𝑳 𝒊 𝒅𝒊

 Energy absorbed by the magnetic field when current is increased

from 0 to I amperes, is
𝑰
𝟏 𝟐
𝑾 = න 𝑳 𝒊 𝒅𝒊 = 𝑳 𝑰
𝟎 𝟐

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Example 1
If a coil of 200 turns is wound in a non-magnetic core having a mean
circumference of 400 mm and a cross-sectional area of 500 mm2,
calculate its inductance

Ans: L = 62.8 µH

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Example 2
A coil of resistance 5Ω and inductance of 0.02H is connected to a
battery of voltage 12V for a long time. At t = 0, the coil is short
circuited. Find the time taken for the current to reach the value 1.2A.

Ans: 2.77 m-sec

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Summary
 Inductor stores energy in its magnetic field

 When a series RL circuit is connected to a dc voltage source, there

is an exponential growth of current through the inductor

 The current decays exponentially when the voltage source is

removed

𝐿
 Time constant of a series RL circuit is 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
𝑅

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