Introduction Inductor

                                            Inductor

 When electrical current flows through a wire conductor, a magnetic flux is developed around the conductor producing a relationship between the direction of this magnetic flux which is circulating around the conductor and the direction of the current flowing through the same conductor . This well known relationship between current and magnetic flux direction is called "Fleming's left hand rule"

         But there is also another important property relating to a wound coil that also exists, which is that a secondary voltage is introduce into the same coil by the movement of the magnetic flux as it opposes or resists any changes in the electrical  current flowing it. 

   

         In its most basic form, an inductor is nothing more than a coil wire around a central core. For most coils the current (i) flowing through the coil produces a magnetic flux around it that is proportional to this flow of electrical current.

 

The inductor also called a choke , is another passive type electrical component which is just a coil of wire that is designed to take advantage of this relationship by inducing a magnetic field in  itself or in the core as  a  result of the current passing through the coil . This results in  a much stronger magnetic field than one that would be produced by a simple coil of wire.

Inductors are formed with wire tightly wrapped around a solid central core which can be either a straight cylindrical rod or a continuous loop or ring to concentrate their magnetic flux.

The schematic symbol for a inductor is that of a coil of wire so therefore , a coil of wire can also be called an inductor. Inductor usually are categorised according to the type of inner core they are wound around ,for example  hollow core , solid iron core or soft ferrite core with the different core types being distinguished by adding continuous or dotted parallel lines next to the wire coil as shown below.