Energy Stored in an Inductor
Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Try different units for next level excitement!
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An inductor banks energy in its magnetic field just as a capacitor banks it in an electric field — ½LI² mirroring ½CV². The energy is real and sometimes violent: interrupt the current abruptly and the collapsing field drives the voltage as high as needed to keep the charge flowing, which is how a car's 12 V ignition coil conjures a 30 kV spark. Switch-mode power supplies exploit the same effect gently, ferrying energy through an inductor tens of thousands of times per second.
Energy Stored in an Inductor
Where
- = Stored energy
- = Inductance
- = Current
Missing one of these? Work it out first, then come back
- Stored energy — Energy Stored in a Capacitor, Electrical Energy (E = Pt)
- Inductance — Inductive Reactance (X_L = 2πfL), RL Time Constant (τ = L/R)
- Current — Ohm's Law, Electrical Power (P = VI)