Myth Buster: Inductors

The invention of inductors and the discovery of Lenz’s law allowed us to expand our mechanical and electrical systems to perform automatic physical movements that respond to sensors and transmitters. As we learned last week, motors and generators are inductive components that provide physical movement and energy generation. Inductors also provide wave-shaping and filtering responses for transmitting and receiving signals and can detect other magnetic objects in their flux field allowing them to be used as sensors. Other applications include current stabilization for lighting and induction heating used to produce extremely high heat responses.

There are many misconceptions about inductors and their properties. For instance, inductors cannot be infinitely smaller by increasing the frequency in practical application, though the calculations show differently. This is due to the winding resistance of the induction coil being ignored in ideal calculations. Other myths include ideas that the inductor rated current and saturation current are the same concept, and that ferrite and metal composites inductor cores are equivalent in use.

Discussion Prompt: Discuss the following prompts
Research and discuss inductor-rated current and saturation current.
Research and discuss ferrite and metal composite induction cores and induction coil skin effect.
Where can you find the rated current and saturation current for an inductor?
What causes inductive winding resistance, and how can it be reduced?
What is core loss, and how is it affected by frequency and core composition?