Inductor

What is Inductor?

A component, typically a coil of wire, that stores electrical energy as a magnetic field and opposes any sudden change in the current flowing through it. Break that current path abruptly and the collapsing field fights back with a voltage spike, which is exactly the mechanism behind old ignition coils and modern switching power supplies.

The five clues

Engineerdle #22 described Inductor with five clues, revealed one at a time from hardest to most direct. Each clue points at a different property of the concept.

1. 01A component that stores energy in a magnetic field, not an electric one.
2. 02Usually nothing more exotic than a coil of wire.
3. 03It opposes sudden changes in current through itself.
4. 04Break its current path suddenly and it will fight back with a voltage spike.
5. 05A component storing electrical energy as a magnetic field, opposing changes in the current through it: V = L(dI/dt).

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