ale29559_ch06.

qxd 07/08/2008 10:59 AM Page 226

Length, ᐍ
Cross-sectional area, A 6.4 Inductors
An inductor is a passive element designed to store energy in its mag-
netic field. Inductors find numerous applications in electronic and
Core material
power systems. They are used in power supplies, transformers, radios,
TVs, radars, and electric motors.
Number of turns, N Any conductor of electric current has inductive properties and may
Figure 6.21 be regarded as an inductor. But in order to enhance the inductive effect,
Typical form of an inductor. a practical inductor is usually formed into a cylindrical coil with many
turns of conducting wire, as shown in Fig. 6.21.

An inductor consists of a coil of conducting wire.

If current is allowed to pass through an inductor, it is found that the

voltage across the inductor is directly proportional to the time rate of
change of the current. Using the passive sign convention,

In view of Eq. (6.18), for an inductor
to have voltage across its terminals, its
current must vary with time. Hence,
v
0 for constant current through
the inductor.
di
v
L (6.18)
dt
where L is the constant of proportionality called the inductance of the
inductor. The unit of inductance is the henry (H), named in honor of
the American inventor Joseph Henry (1797–1878). It is clear from
Eq. (6.18) that 1 henry equals 1 volt-second per ampere.

Inductance is the property whereby an inductor exhibits opposition

to the change of current flowing through it, measured in henrys (H).

(a) The inductance of an inductor depends on its physical dimension

and construction. Formulas for calculating the inductance of inductors
of different shapes are derived from electromagnetic theory and can be
found in standard electrical engineering handbooks. For example, for
the inductor, (solenoid) shown in Fig. 6.21,
N 2mA
L
(6.19)
/
where N is the number of turns, / is the length, A is the cross-sectional
(b) area, and m is the permeability of the core. We can see from Eq. (6.19)
that inductance can be increased by increasing the number of turns of
coil, using material with higher permeability as the core, increasing the
cross-sectional area, or reducing the length of the coil.
Like capacitors, commercially available inductors come in differ-
ent values and types. Typical practical inductors have inductance values
ranging from a few microhenrys (mH), as in communication systems,
to tens of henrys (H) as in power systems. Inductors may be fixed or
(c) variable. The core may be made of iron, steel, plastic, or air. The terms
coil and choke are also used for inductors. Common inductors are
Figure 6.22 shown in Fig. 6.22. The circuit symbols for inductors are shown in
Various types of inductors: (a) solenoidal
wound inductor, (b) toroidal inductor, Fig. 6.23, following the passive sign convention.
(c) chip inductor. Equation (6.18) is the voltage-current relationship for an inductor.
Courtesy of Tech America. Figure 6.24 shows this relationship graphically for an inductor whose
ale29559_ch06.qxd 07/08/2008 10:59 AM Page 227

Historical
Joseph Henry (1797–1878), an American physicist, discovered induc-
tance and constructed an electric motor.
Born in Albany, New York, Henry graduated from Albany Acad-
emy and taught philosophy at Princeton University from 1832 to 1846.
He was the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He conducted
several experiments on electromagnetism and developed powerful elec-
tromagnets that could lift objects weighing thousands of pounds. Inter-
estingly, Joseph Henry discovered electromagnetic induction before
Faraday but failed to publish his findings. The unit of inductance, the
henry, was named after him.

inductance is independent of current. Such an inductor is known as a

i i i
linear inductor. For a nonlinear inductor, the plot of Eq. (6.18) will
not be a straight line because its inductance varies with current. We + + +
will assume linear inductors in this textbook unless stated otherwise. v L v L v L
The current-voltage relationship is obtained from Eq. (6.18) as − − −

1
di
v dt
L
(a) (b) (c)
Integrating gives Figure 6.23
t Circuit symbols for inductors: (a) air-core,

1 (b) iron-core, (c) variable iron-core.
i
v (t) dt (6.20)
L 

or
v
t

 v(t) dt  i(t )
1
i
0 (6.21)
L t0
Slope = L

where i(t0) is the total current for  6 t 6 t0 and i()
0. The

idea of making i()
0 is practical and reasonable, because there
0 di ⁄dt
must be a time in the past when there was no current in the inductor.
The inductor is designed to store energy in its magnetic field. The Figure 6.24
Voltage-current relationship of an inductor.
energy stored can be obtained from Eq. (6.18). The power delivered to
the inductor is

p
vi
aL bi
di
(6.22)
dt
The energy stored is
t t

  aL bi dt
di
w
p dt

 
dt
t (6.23)

1 1

L i di
Li2(t)  Li2()

2 2
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Since i ()
0,

1
w
Li2 (6.24)
2

We should note the following important properties of an inductor.

1. Note from Eq. (6.18) that the voltage across an inductor is zero
when the current is constant. Thus,

An inductor acts like a short circuit to dc.

2. An important property of the inductor is its opposition to the

change in current flowing through it.

i i The current through an inductor cannot change instantaneously.

According to Eq. (6.18), a discontinuous change in the current

through an inductor requires an infinite voltage, which is not phys-
t t ically possible. Thus, an inductor opposes an abrupt change in the
(a) (b)
current through it. For example, the current through an inductor
may take the form shown in Fig. 6.25(a), whereas the inductor cur-
Figure 6.25
Current through an inductor: (a) allowed, rent cannot take the form shown in Fig. 6.25(b) in real-life situa-
(b) not allowable; an abrupt change is not tions due to the discontinuities. However, the voltage across an
possible. inductor can change abruptly.
3. Like the ideal capacitor, the ideal inductor does not dissipate
energy. The energy stored in it can be retrieved at a later time. The
inductor takes power from the circuit when storing energy and
Since an inductor is often made of a delivers power to the circuit when returning previously stored
highly conducting wire, it has a very energy.
small resistance. 4. A practical, nonideal inductor has a significant resistive component,
as shown in Fig. 6.26. This is due to the fact that the inductor is
made of a conducting material such as copper, which has some
L Rw resistance. This resistance is called the winding resistance Rw, and
it appears in series with the inductance of the inductor. The pres-
ence of Rw makes it both an energy storage device and an energy
dissipation device. Since Rw is usually very small, it is ignored in
Cw
most cases. The nonideal inductor also has a winding capacitance
Figure 6.26
Circuit model for a practical inductor. Cw due to the capacitive coupling between the conducting coils. Cw
is very small and can be ignored in most cases, except at high fre-
quencies. We will assume ideal inductors in this book.

Example 6.8 The current through a 0.1-H inductor is i(t)
10te5t A. Find the volt-
age across the inductor and the energy stored in it.

Solution:
Since v
L di
dt and L
0.1 H,
d
v
0.1 (10te5t )
e5t  t(5)e5t
e5t(1  5t) V
dt
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The energy stored is

1 2 1
w
Li
(0.1)100t 2e10t
5t 2e10t J
2 2

If the current through a 1-mH inductor is i(t)
20 cos 100t mA, find Practice Problem 6.8
the terminal voltage and the energy stored.

Find the current through a 5-H inductor if the voltage across it is Example 6.9
30t 2, t 7 0
v(t)
b
0, t 6 0

Also, find the energy stored at t
5 s. Assume i(v) 7 0.

Solution:
t

 v(t) dt  i (t ) and L
5 H,
1
Since i
0
L t0
t
t3
 30t
1
i
2
dt  0
6 
2t 3 A
5 0
3

The power p
vi
60t 5, and the energy stored is then

5
t6 5
w
 p dt

0
60t 5 dt
60
6 0
2
156.25 kJ

Alternatively, we can obtain the energy stored using Eq. (6.24), by

writing

w 0 50
Li2(5)  Li(0)
(5)(2  53)2  0
156.25 kJ

1 1 1
2 2 2

as obtained before.

The terminal voltage of a 2-H inductor is v
10(1  t) V. Find the Practice Problem 6.9
current flowing through it at t
4 s and the energy stored in it at t
4 s.
Assume i(0)
2 A.
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Example 6.10 Consider the circuit in Fig. 6.27(a). Under dc conditions, find: (a) i, vC,
and iL, (b) the energy stored in the capacitor and inductor.
i 1Ω 5Ω
iL Solution:
4Ω (a) Under dc conditions, we replace the capacitor with an open circuit
12 V + 2H
− + and the inductor with a short circuit, as in Fig. 6.27(b). It is evident
vC 1F from Fig. 6.27(b) that
−
12
(a) i
iL

2A
15
i 1Ω 5Ω The voltage vC is the same as the voltage across the 5- resistor. Hence,
iL
vC
5i
10 V
4Ω
12 V +
−
(b) The energy in the capacitor is
+
vC 1 1
− wC
Cv2C
(1)(102)
50 J
2 2
(b)
and that in the inductor is
Figure 6.27
For Example 6.10. 1 1
wL
Li2L
(2)(22)
4 J
2 2

Practice Problem 6.10 Determine vC, iL, and the energy stored in the capacitor and inductor
in the circuit of Fig. 6.28 under dc conditions.
iL 6H

+
4A 6Ω 2Ω vC 4F
−

Figure 6.28
For Practice Prob. 6.10. 6.5 Series and Parallel Inductors
Now that the inductor has been added to our list of passive elements, it is
necessary to extend the powerful tool of series-parallel combination. We
i L1 L2 L3 LN need to know how to find the equivalent inductance of a series-connected
or parallel-connected set of inductors found in practical circuits.
+ +v − +v − +v − ... +v − Consider a series connection of N inductors, as shown in Fig. 6.29(a),
1 2 3 N
v with the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 6.29(b). The inductors have
− the same current through them. Applying KVL to the loop,
(a) v
v1  v2  v3  p  vN (6.25)
i Substituting vk
Lk di
dt results in
di di di di
+ v
L1  L2  L3  p  LN
v L eq dt dt dt dt
− di

(L 1  L 2  L 3  p  L N) (6.26)
(b) dt
N

a a L k b
Leq
Figure 6.29 di di
(a) A series connection of N inductors, dt dt
k
1
(b) equivalent circuit for the series
inductors. where

Leq
L 1  L 2  L 3  p  L N (6.27)
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Thus, i

+ i1 i2 i3 iN
The equivalent inductance of series-connected inductors is the sum v L1 L2 L3 LN
of the individual inductances.
−
(a)
Inductors in series are combined in exactly the same way as resistors
in series. i
We now consider a parallel connection of N inductors, as shown
+
in Fig. 6.30(a), with the equivalent circuit in Fig. 6.30(b). The induc-
v L eq
tors have the same voltage across them. Using KCL,
−
i
i1  i2  i3  p  iN (6.28)
(b)
t

 v dt  i (t ); hence,
1 Figure 6.30
But ik
k 0 (a) A parallel connection of N inductors,
Lk t0 (b) equivalent circuit for the parallel
t t inductors.
  v dt  i (t )
1 1
i
v dt  i1(t0)  2 0
L1 t0
L2 t0
t

 v dt  i
1
p N (t0)
LN t0
t

a b  v dt  i (t )  i (t )
1 1 1
 p 1 0 2 0
L1 L2 LN t0

 p  iN (t0)
N t N t

aa b   v dt  i(t )
1 1
v dt  a ik(t0)
0 (6.29)
L
k
1 k t0 k
1 Leq t0

where

1 1 1 1 1

  p (6.30)
Leq L1 L2 L3 LN

The initial current i(t0) through Leq at t
t0 is expected by KCL to be

the sum of the inductor currents at t0. Thus, according to Eq. (6.29),
i(t0)
i1(t0)  i2(t0)  p  iN (t0)
According to Eq. (6.30),

The equivalent inductance of parallel inductors is the reciprocal of the

sum of the reciprocals of the individual inductances.

Note that the inductors in parallel are combined in the same way as
resistors in parallel.
For two inductors in parallel (N
2), Eq. (6.30) becomes
1 1 1 L1L2

 or Leq
(6.31)
Leq L1 L2 L1  L2
As long as all the elements are of the same type, the ¢-Y transforma-
tions for resistors discussed in Section 2.7 can be extended to capacitors
and inductors.
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TABLE 6.1

Important characteristics of the basic elements.†

Relation Resistor (R) Capacitor (C) Inductor (L)
t

i dt  v(t )
1 di
v-i: v
iR v
0 v
L
C t0
dt
t

v dt  i(t )
dv 1
i-v: i
vR i
C i
0
dt L t0

v2 1 1
p or w: p
i2R
w
Cv2 w
Li2
R 2 2
C1C2
Series: Req
R1  R2 Ceq
Leq
L1  L2
C1  C2
R1R2 L1L2
Parallel: Req
Ceq
C1  C2 Leq

R1  R2 L1  L2
At dc: Same Open circuit Short circuit
Circuit variable
that cannot
change abruptly: Not applicable v i

†
Passive sign convention is assumed.

It is appropriate at this point to summarize the most important

characteristics of the three basic circuit elements we have studied. The
summary is given in Table 6.1.
The wye-delta transformation discussed in Section 2.7 for resistors
can be extended to capacitors and inductors.

Example 6.11 Find the equivalent inductance of the circuit shown in Fig. 6.31.

4H 20 H Solution:
The 10-H, 12-H, and 20-H inductors are in series; thus, combining
L eq them gives a 42-H inductance. This 42-H inductor is in parallel with
7H 12 H the 7-H inductor so that they are combined, to give
7  42
8H 10 H
6H
7  42
Figure 6.31
For Example 6.11. This 6-H inductor is in series with the 4-H and 8-H inductors. Hence,
Leq
4  6  8
18 H

Practice Problem 6.11 Calculate the equivalent inductance for the inductive ladder network in
Fig. 6.32.
20 mH 100 mH 40 mH

L eq
50 mH 40 mH 30 mH 20 mH

Figure 6.32
For Practice Prob. 6.11.
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For the circuit in Fig. 6.33, i(t)
4(2  e10t) mA. If i2(0)
1 mA, Example 6.12
find: (a) i1(0) ; (b) v(t) , v1(t) , and v2(t) ; (c) i1(t) and i2(t).
i 2H
Solution: + + v1 − i1 i2
10t
+
(a) From i(t)
4(2  e ) mA, i(0)
4(2  1)
4 mA. Since i
v 4H v2 12 H
i1  i2, −
−
i1(0)
i(0)  i2(0)
4  (1)
5 mA
Figure 6.33
(b) The equivalent inductance is For Example 6.12.
Leq
2  4  12
2  3
5 H
Thus,
di
v(t)
Leq
5(4)(1)(10)e10t mV
200e10t mV
dt
and
di
v1(t)
2
2(4)(10)e10t mV
80e10t mV
dt
Since v
v1  v2,
v2(t)
v(t)  v1(t)
120e10t mV
(c) The current i1 is obtained as
t t

 e
1 120 10t
i1(t)
v2 dt  i1(0)
dt  5 mA
4 0
4 0

3e10t 0 0  5 mA
3e10t  3  5
8  3e10t mA

t

Similarly,
t t

v e
1 120 10t
i2(t)
2 dt  i2(0)
dt  1 mA
12 0
12 0

e10t 0 0  1 mA
e10t  1  1
e10t mA

t

Note that i1(t)  i2(t)
i(t).

In the circuit of Fig. 6.34, i1(t)
0.6e2t A. If i(0)
1.4 A, find: Practice Problem 6.12
(a) i2(0); (b) i2(t) and i(t); (c) v1(t), v2(t), and v(t).
i2 3H
i
+ v1 −
+
+
i1 6H v2
v 8H
−
−

Figure 6.34
For Practice Prob. 6.12.