Capacitors and Capacitance:

• Electrostatics:
• A conductor with a deficit of Electrons is positively charged and one with a surplus of
electrons is negatively charged
• Charge imbalance can be created by:
– Friction: rubbing two materials together
– Induction: Attracting or repelling electrons using a second charged body
• Electrostatic field:
• Consider 2 parallel metal plates charged at different potentials
• Electron (-ve charge) placed between plates:
– Attracted by positively charged plate and repelled by negatively charged plate
• Region where an electric charge experiences a force is called Electrostatic Field
• Direction of force considered to be from positive to negative, represented by lines of electric
force
• The closeness of the lines is an indication of field strength, the more close the more field that
will exist. Also it depends upon the p.d. between plates

+ + + + + + + + +
A
Lines of force

- - - - - - - - - B
MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 32
Applications
Field Patterns:
• Electric lines of force (Electric Flux
Lines) are continuous and cannot cross
each other
• Charged body placed close to an
uncharged body, charge of opposite
sign appears (is induced) on the
surface of the uncharged body, since
lines of force terminate on its surface
• Concept of field lines is only imaginary
• Note that:
– Like charges repel
– Unlike charges attract
• Force of attraction or repulsion is
proportional to the magnitude of charge
and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance separating them
• This is known a Coulomb’s Law

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 33

Applications
Electric field strength:
• Consider two parallel conducting plates, separated by air and A
connected to a battery B

• Electric field present in the space between the plates

• Plates close together, lines of field will be straight, parallel and
equally placed, except near the edges V

• Electric field strength also called Potential Gradient and is given by:

E = V/d (Volts/metre) A B

• V is the applied battery voltage, and d is the distance between plates

Capacitance:
• Static electric fields arise from electric charges (i.e. A voltage source
V
– a battery). Field lines begin and end on an electric charge
• Presence of field lines between the plates indicates there is a presence of an equal positive and
negative electric charge on the plates. Charge (Q) is measured in Coulombs, and can be
assumed that we have a charge of +Q coulombs on one plate, and a charge of –Q coulombs on
the other plate.
• Property of plates which determine how much charge corresponds to a given p.d. Across the
plates is called Capacitance
• Capacitance is measured in Farads (F) and is given by:

Capacitance = Charge / applied voltage or C = Q/V

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 34
Applications
Capacitors:
• Components possessing capacitance also called Condensers
• Simple form of capacitor is formed of 2 plates separated by an insulating material called
Dielectric
• A capacitor has the ability to store a quantity of static electricity
• A charge Q stored in a capacitor is given by:

Charge = Current x time or Q = I x t coulombs

Permittivity:
• Charge produced on the 2 plates of a + Voltage
capacitor depends upon:
• Physical dimensions
• Insulating dielectric material
Plate Area A Dielectric Material
placed between plates Electric field lines
• Dielectric must have very high value
of resistivity and ability to withstand Potential difference, V

high voltage without breakdown

Distance, d
• Relationship between the ratio of
charge and voltage and physical
aspects of a capacitor is given by:
- Voltage
Q = εxA
d
• Where ε is the Absolute Permittivity of the dielectric material
MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 35
Applications
Absolute Permittivity and strength of a dielectric:
• Absolute permittivity (also known as Dielectric Constant) of a dielectric material is the product
of the permittivity of free space (εo) and the relative permittivity of the dielectric material (εr)
• The Dielectric Strength of an insulating material is the maximum field strength (voltage) that
can be applied to the material before breakdown (conduction) occurs

Dielectric Material Relative Permittivity Dielectric Strength (kV/mm)

Vacuum/Free Space 1 ∞ (infinity)
Air 1 3
Polythene 2.3 50
Paper 2.5 to 3.5 14
Polystyrene 2.5 25
Mica 4 to 7 160
Pyrex 4.5 13
Glass 5.9 40
Polyester 3.0 to 3.4 18
Porcelain 6.5 4
Ceramic 5 to 1000 2 to 10

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 36

Applications
The parallel plate capacitor:
• Capacitance is proportional to the Area of the plates and inversly proportional to the distance
between the plates, and depends upon the nature of dielectric:

Capacitance (C) = εo εr A (measured in farads - F)

d

• The farad by itself is a very high unit, hence normally capacitance is measured in sub-multiples:
• 1 µF (1 micro-Farad) = 1 x 10-6 F = 0.000001 F
• 1 nF (1 nano-Farad) = 1 x 10-9 F = 0.000000001 F
• 1 pF (1 pico-Farad) = 1 x 10-12 F = 0.000000000001 F
• A method to increase capacitance is to increase the area of the plates. In practice this is
achieved by interleaving several plates as shown below:

C1 VC1
+
-
1nF
CAP-VAR
fixed variable
interleaving plates to increase Symbols of a capacitor
plate area and capacitance

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 37

Applications
 C1
Capacitors connected in parallel: (Q1)
• In a parallel capacitor combination, charge (Q) is divided 1nF
between the capacitors in the network C2
(Q2)
• All capacitors are charged to the same potential
difference 1nF

• The total capacitance in a parallel capacitor network is C3

(Q3)
given by:
1nF
Ctotal = C1 + C2 + C3 + C4 + ...... Etc.
Capacitors connected in Series: V
• In a series capacitor combination, all capacitors will get
the same amount of charge Total charge Q = Q1 + Q2 + Q3
• Each individual capacitor is charged to a p.d. Which is a All capacitors have the same p.d. (V)
fraction of the supply voltage. All p.d. across the
capacitors will sum up to the supply voltage V1 V2 V3
• The total capacitance in a series capacitor network is
given by: C1 C2 C3

1nF 1nF 1nF

1 = 1 + 1 + 1 ..... Etc.
Ctotal C1 C2 C3
V
• Always remember to convert sub-multiples to whole
units during calculations. Convert to sub-multiples V = V1 + V2 + V3
only when you have got the answer !! All capacitors have the same charge Q

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 38

Applications
 Switch
Capacitor Charging and discharging:
A
• A capacitor is used for storing an electrical charge. It is a R B C
reservoir into which charge can be deposited by charging and
later extracted off by discharging
Charging
• Considering the circuit on the right, when switch is moved to Current
position B electrons from the upper capacitor plate move to + R
the positive terminal of the battery. At the same time a number V ++ + +
of electrons move from the negative terminal of the battery to - C
-- - -
the capacitor lower plate.
• Sudden movement of electrons will manifest itself in a
momentary surge of current (conventional current flow from Charging: Capacitor voltage & charge grows
battery positive towards negative terminal)
• When enough
electrons have + Voltage (Volts) + Current (Amps)

moved to make max. voltage V max. Current (V/R Amps)

the p.d. across
63% of V
capacitor equals
the battery emf,
capacitor is fully
37% of max. current
charged and no
more current will 0
flow 0 Time constant = C x R
time (secs)
time (secs) Current charging graph
Time constant = C x R
Voltage charging curve

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 39

Applications
Capacitor Charging and discharging:

• When switch is moved to position A, the upper Switch

capacitor plate is left with a deficiency of A
R B C
electrons whilst the lower plate is left with a
surplus of electrons
• Path for current flow is now broken
• Current cannot flow from the upper to the lower
capacitor plates
+ R
• Capacitor will remain charged and a potential V
difference is maintained between the plates of - ++ + +
C
the capacitor -- - -
• By theory if the switch is maintained as it is, the
capacitor will remain fully charged
Capacitor retains charge
• However in practice, capacitors have what is
called Leakage
• Following a period of time the capacitor will be
self-discharged

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 40

Applications
Capacitor Charging and discharging: Switch
• When switch is moved to position C, the excess electrons on A
the lower plate will have a path to flow to the upper plate R B C
through the resistor R
Discharge
• This movement stops until a neutral state of charge is Current
achieved between the two capacitor plates (i.e. no excess
amount of electrons is present on either plate) + R
• In this state the capacitor is said to be fully discharged V
- C
• The movement of electrons will again result in a momentary
surge of current, but in the opposite direction. Convectional
current flow is from the upper to the lower capacitor plates
Discharge: Capacitor voltage and charge decays
• Also there is a collapse in the electric field (p.d.) between the
plates
+ Voltage (Volts)
Time constant = C x R time (secs)
max. voltage V 0

37% of max disch. current

37% of max. voltage V

max. disch. current

0
Time constant = C x R cs)
- current (Amps)
Voltage discharge curve Current discharge graph

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 41

Applications
R-C Circuits and Time Constant:
Charging:
Current (I) R
• In the circuit C is charged from a constant voltage V
through R +
• Voltage across capacitor (Vc), which is initially +
uncharged, rises exponentially. At the same time, the Capacitor
V - C
current will fall as shown below Voltage
• Rate of growth of voltage with time, and rate of decay of (Vc)
current with time depends upon the product of the -
capacitance and resistance in the circuit. This is known
as Time Constant, and is given by: t = R x C

+ Capacitor Voltage: Vc (Volts) + Current (Amps)

max. voltage V max. Current (V/R Amps)

63% of V

37% of max. current

0 0
Time constant = C x R time (secs)
time (secs)
Time constant = C x R
Current charging graph
Capacitor Voltage charging curve

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 42

Applications
RC network – capacitor charging (cont.)
• The voltage developed across the charging capacitor is given by the relationship:
Vc = V x ( 1 – e –t/RC )
• The capacitor voltage will rise to approximately 63% of the supply voltage V following One Time
Constnt (i.e. When time (t) = CR). At the end of the next interval of time equal to the time
constant (i.e. 2CR) the capacitor voltage will further rise by 63% of the remainder, and so on.
• In theory a capacitor will never become fully charged. However after a period of time equal to
5CR the capacitor voltage will have achieved 99.3% of the supply voltage. At this time the
capacitor can be considered fully charged in practice!!
• During charging, the current throught the capacitor will also vary with time: I = V x e -t/RC
• After one time constant RC, the value of the current will fall to R
approximately 37% of the initial current

+ Capacitor Voltage: Vc (Volts) + Current (Amps)

max. voltage V max. Current (V/R Amps)

63% of V

37% of max. current

0 0
time (secs) Time constant = C x R time (secs)
Time constant = C x R
Capacitor Voltage charging curve Current charging graph

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 43

Applications
 RC network – Capacitor discharging:
• When a fully charged capacitor is connected to a resistor as Current (I)
shown, the capacitor starts to discharge through the resistor
• Capacitor voltage will fall exponentially. Rate of discharge +
governed by the time constant RC R
Capacitor
• Voltage across capacitor at a specific time t is given by: C
Voltage
Vc = V x e-t/RC (V is the capacitor fully charged (Vc)
voltage) -
• Capacitor voltage will fall at approximately 37% of the fully
charged capacitor voltage in a time equivalent to one time
constant RxC
• Since theoretically a capacitor will never be fully discharged,
after a time equivalent to 5RC, the capacitor charge is in • Discharge
practice negligible (charge less than 1% of initial voltage) current
+ Voltage (Volts)
formulae:
I = V x e-t/RC
max. voltage V Time constant = C x R time (secs)
R
0
• The current
37% of max disch. current
after one time
constant is
approximately
37% of max. voltage V
max. disch. current
37% of the
initial current
0
time (secs)
Time constant = C x R
- current (Amps) Current discharge graph
Voltage discharge curve

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 44

Applications
Energy stored in a capacitor:
• It is measured in Joules and is equivelnt to:
Energy stored (J) = ½ x C x V 2
Capacitors in practice:
• Out of question to make a capacitor of the required dimensions
for the required value.
• However physical dimensions can be drastically reduced by for
example using paper soaked in oil as dielectric and thin
aluminium foil as plates. The whole capacitor assembly is then
rolled up to get the same effective surface area in a smaller
capacitor size. This type of capacitor is called Paper Capacitor.
Paper capacitors values range from 0.001µF to 0.1µF and can
Paper Capacitor
handle low/moderate voltages up to about 1000V
• Mica Capacitors: Mica is used as the dielectric material. Such
capacitors are made by alternatively stacking metal sheets and Metal sheet or silver ink meshes

layers of mica, or by applying silver ink to the sheets of mica.

+
Metal sheets are wired in 2 meshes sets, forming the 2 capacitor -
terminals. Mica capacitors have low loss. They waste very little
Mica
power as heat, provided rated voltage is not exceeded. They dielectric
have higher voltage ratings than paper capacitors. However Mica
capacitors tend to be large in physical size compared to their Mica
capacitance value. Capacitance range pF up to about 0.05µF Capacitor

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 45

Applications
More Capacitors in practice:
• Ceramic Capacitors: Dielectric used is porcelain. Physical build up
is the same as mica capacitors. Like mica ceramic capacitors have
low loss. Low valued ceramic capacitors are found in the form of disc.
Higher values are found in tubular form, where a hollow cylinder
(tube) of ceramic is used which is applied by metal ink at the inside
and outside of the tube. Values range up to 0.5µF
• Plastic-film capacitors: Dielectric used is a plastic such as;
Polyester, Polyethylene, Polystyrene, or Mylar. Where plastic is
flexible, the rolling method is used for construction. Where plastic is Ceramic Capacitors
rigid, the stacking method is used. Values range from 0.001µF to
10µF, rated at low/moderate voltage. Physically a plastic film
capacitor can be like paper, mica, and ceramic capacitors
• Electrolytic Capacitors: Provides considerably greater capacitance
compared to the physical size. However it must be connected in the
proper direction in a circuit to work properly. Such capacitor is called
a Polarized Component. Physical construction is formed of
aluminium foils separated by paper saturated in an electrolyte liquid.
The electrolyte is a conducting solution. When dc current flows
through the capacitor the electrolyte causes an oxide layer (insulating
layer) to form on the aluminium foil. This creates a dielectric for the Electrolytic
capacitor. This layer is extremely thin, giving high capacitance per capacitors
unit volume (helps reducing physical size)

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 46

Applications
More on practical capacitors:
• Tantalum capacitors: Another polarized capacitor which uses tantalum material instead of
aluminium. It can be in the form of rolled foil as in the electrolytic or in the form of a porous pellet,
the irregular surface of which provides a large area in a small volume. Very reliable and efficient
• Variable Capacitors: Capacitors can be varied by adjusting the mutual surface area between the
plates, or by chaging spacing between plates. Normally the dielectric used in such capacitors is
Air. Air variable capacitors have 2 sets of meshed plates. One set is coupled to a rotateable shaft.
Normal use is in tuning of radios, where variable capacitance is required to create what are called
‘tuned circuits’. Air varialble capacitors can be also ‘Trimmers’, where rotateable plates are rotated
by a screw.

Tantalum Capacitors

Air -Variable Capacitors/Trimmers

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 47

Applications
Reading Capacitors Value:
• Colour Coding: Similar system as in resistors used. Figure below on the left shows how to
read colour coding on capacitors. Resulting value will be in pico-Farads.
• Ceramic Capacitor Marking: Value can be read by interpreting an alpha numeric code on the
capacitor. Figure below on the right gives some examples on how markings on capacitors are
interpreted to obtain the value of the capacitor
• Capacitor values are normally found up to E6 stabdards, while resistors to the E12 standards

4n7 n22 100n

4.7nF 220pF 100nF

Bands 1&2: Band 3: Band 4: Band 5:
Colour coding Multiplier Tolerance Working voltage 104

100V
33K
101J 350V
(same as Black x1 Red +/-2% Brown 100V dc
resistors) Brown x10 Green +/-5% Red 200V dc
Red x100 White +/-10% Yellow 400V dc
Orange x1000 Black +/-20% 33nF +/-10% 100V 100pF +/-5% 100nF 350V
Yellow x10000
Green x100000 Non-polarized capacitor numerical marking

Ceramic
Colour-coded capacitor Capacitors
marking

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 48

Applications
Reading Capacitors Value:
• Polarized Capacitor markings: Electrolytics and
Tantalums have the capacitance and the working
voltage printed on the body. They carry also an
indictation of polarity. In tantalum the positive lead
is indicated by a ‘+’ sign, while in electrolytic the
negative lead is indicated by a ‘-’ sign inside an
arrow. Also on a new unused polarized capacitor +
you will find the positive lead that is longer than
the negative lead.
• The symbol of the electrolytic capacitor is shown.
The negative lead is drawn in bold black, while Polarized capacitor marking and symbol
the positive is drawn as a white box

Capacitors in new technology

• Capacitors for the surface mount technology. tantalum
• Can be both unpolarized and polarized
• Very small in size Non-polarized
• Disadvantage that they are limited in capacitance
value since the physical size is small
• Polarized SMT capacitors have the negative lead
side indicated by a black/dark mark electrolytic
SMT capacitors

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 49

Applications
 Magnetic field
Electromagnetism: flux lines
• Magnetic field can be caused by the motion of charged
carriers (electrons), either in a wire or in free space
• Two wires carrying current placed near each other will
interact with one another and experience a force of
attraction or repulsion
• Lines of flux forming the magnetic field produced by current Current
are concentric direction
• Direction of field determined by the
direction of current flow
• Magnetic field strength: Measure of the
density of the flux at any particular point
• Strength is proportional to the magnitude
of the current and inverseley proportional
to the perpendicular distance from the Current flowing into conductor Current flowing out from conductor
Flux lines rotation clockwise Flux lines rotation anti-clockwise
conductor
• Conductor shaped into a loop, field
strength increased further
• Magnetic flux will be concentrated at the
centre of the loop. Hence maximum field
strength exists at the centre of the loop

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 50

Applications
Magnetic Field Strength:
• Coiled wire (ie: number of loops added together), increases the magnetic field strength further.
• Magnetic field pattern becomes exactly like the one produced by a permanent magnet
• An Electromagnet is created
• Magnetomotive force is the measure of the field strength.
• Force depends upon the number of turns and the current flowing in the coil
• Magnetomotive force (mmf) is measured in Ampere-turns (At) or in Gilberts
• Ferromagnetic core placed inside the coil, magnetic lines of flux are concentrated in the core.
i.e. The core is magnetized like a permanent magnet
• Ferromagnetic material is a material which sticks to a permanent magnet
• One example could be Soft Iron
• Electromagnets are cylindrical in shape

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 51

Applications
Magnetic Circuits: CURRENT (I)
• Ferromagnetic materials are used to increase the flux
density produced by an electric current. They allow
electric flux to be channelled (conducted or
POTENTIAL
concentrated) into a magnetic loop or circuit. EMF (E)
DIFFERENCE (V)
RESISTANCE (R)
• We can compare a magnetic circuit to a simple
electrical circuit:
• The reluctance in the magnetic circuit is
CURRENT (I)
comparable to the resistance in an electric circuit
• The magnetic flux is comparable to the electric Material Reluctance
current
• The magnetomotive force is comparable to the
Electric Current
electro-motive force
• Reluctance: Proportional to the length and inversely
proportional to the area of the ferromagnetic material Magnetomotive
• Permeability: The ability of a material to concentrate Force (mmf - At)
magnetic flux. In ferromagnetic materials, this propertty
is relatively high. In air flux lines spread out more,
hence in air permeability is low
• Retentivity or Remanence: The ability of a
ferromagnetic material to retain magnetism after the
Magnetic Flux
magnetic field is removed. Remaining (‘memorized’)
magnetism on a material is called Residual Magnetism. Materials with good retentivity are
excellent for making permanent magnets

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 52

Applications
The Solenoid:
• An electromagnet with a hollow cylindrical
ferromagnetic material core
• A moveable steel rod runs inside the inner
hole of the electromagnet core
• No current flowing in the coil, there is no
magnetic field and the steel rod is held
outside the core by force of gravity or a
spring
• Current applied to the coil, magnetic field is
created. This magnetizes the core the rod
is pulled inside the core
• When current is removed the core de-
magnetizes and the steel rod will return to
the original position
• It is important for the core material to have
very low retentivity so that the rod returns
to the original position as fast as possible
• The coil has several layers to increase the
number of turns which in turn creates a
larger magnetomotive force. This makes
the electromagnet more powerful

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 53

Applications
The Relay:
• In a relay a switch is moved indirectly by
an eletromagnet
• Useful for remote control switching of
high currents
• Moveable lever of the switch, called
armature, is held in the ‘normal’ postion
by means of a spring when there is no
current flowing inside the coil
• When a control voltage is applied to the
coil, a current is created inside the relay
coil.
• This magnetizes the Iron-core coil of the
relay
• The lever is attracted by the
electromagnet and moves down
• Connection between points X and Y is
broken and a connection between points
X and Z is made
• Points X, Y and Z are called the relay
contacts. X to Y are called normally Electrical symbol
closed contacts. X to Z are called of a relay
normally open contacts
Coil Core
MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 54
Applications
Inductors: INDUCTANCE (L)
• A means of storing electrical energy in the form of
magnetic field SERIES LOSS RESISTANCE (R)
• An inductor is a coil whose electrical characteristics
depend upon the number of turns, physical dimensions, SWITCH +
and the type of core used Current (I) Volt drop
R
• Inductor comprises inductance (L) as well as some across R increases
as Current builds up
resistance (R) (representation of an inductor is a
+ -
resistance in series with a coil) +
EMF (V)
Action of an inductor: - Rapid flux change
L produces an emf that
• When switch is closed and current starts to flow,
opposes applied emf
magnetic field starts to build up across the coil. The
growing magnetic field (changing flux) creates (induces) a -
voltage across the coil that opposes applied emf. This
induced emf restricts the current flow (I) in the circuit
• Note that the magnetic field builds up exponentially and SWITCH +
there is an instant where it cannot build up further – at Current (I) Voltage drop
R
this instant the electromagnet is said to be saturated across R equals
applied emf
• The induced emf across the coil depends upon the rate of
+ -
change in flux. Hence it decays exponentially with the
EMF (V)
growing magnetic field. Inversely the current increases - L Flux remains
slowly with the growing magnetic field (I α 1/V) constant and no
• Magnetic field maximum, no more change in flux. Induced voltage is dropped
emf is zero and current in circuit will be maximum (V/R)
MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 55
Applications
Back EMF:
• If after the steady state (i.e. Magnetic field is maximum. Induced emf is zero. Circuit current is
maximum) the switch is opened, no more current will flow in the circuit
• Magnetic field across the coil collapses rapidly
• This creates a rapid change in flux which induces another voltage across the coil
• Since the movement of the magnetic field now is reversed, the polarity of the induced emf will be
opposite to that induced when the magnetic field was building up
• That explains the reason why it is called Back EMF
• The magnitude of induced emf across the coil depends upon the rate of change of flux. The faster
the change in flux, the larger is the induced voltage. Hence the back emf can be extremely large
• When the magnetic field has collapsed completely, the value of back emf will reduce to zero
• Since the switch is open, no current will flow,
hence voltage drop across R is zero (Ohm’s
Law) SWITCH
• Should the switch be replaced by another No current flows
R
component, a reverse current would flow No voltage drop
during the rapid collapse of the magnetic field
Property of inductance: +
-
• Induced voltage in a coil gives rise to the EMF (V)
- Sudden collapse of flux
opposition of current flowing through it L produces a momentary but
• Inductance is measured in Henries (H) very large 'back emf'
• Induced voltage across a coil is proportional to
+
inductance (L) of the coil and the rate of
change of current applied
MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 56
Applications
Inductors in practice:
• Specifications: Value of inductance, expressed in milliHenries (mH) or microHenries (µH). Current
rating. Accuracy and tolerance. Temperature coefficient. DC resistance.
• Inductor markings: Indicate value, working current and tolerance. Small inductors may be marked
with colours as in resistors and some capacitors. Colour coded value marking is usually expressed
to micro Henries (µH).

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 57

Applications
Inductors in series and inductors in parallel:
• Total inductance in a circuit is obtained using the same system as in resistors
• Inductors in series: To get total inductance just add all inductances together
L Total = L1 + L2 + L3 + ............. Etc
• Inductors in parallel: Reciprocal of total inductance in a circuit becomes the sum of the reciprocals of
each individual inductance in a circuit

1 = 1 + 1 + 1 + ............ Etc
Ltotal L1 L2 L3
• The above holds true only if the inductors are spaced enough that there is no interaction between
inductors near each other. Magnetic field from one inductor may induce an emf on the nearby
inductor, which will vary the properties, and hence the inductance
L1
1mH
L1 L2 L3 L2
1mH 1mH 1mH 1mH

Inductors in series L3
1mH

Inductors in parallel

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 58

Applications
Inductive networks – LR circuits: Current (I) R
• Supply first connected, current I will rise exponentially with
time. At the same time inductor voltage VL will fall +
+ L
• Rate of change of current with time depends upon the ratio of Inductor
V - Voltage
inductance to resistance and is known as the Time constant
(VL)
(t): t = L/R (seconds)
-
• Current flowing in the inductor at a given time is obtained from
the relationship:
I = V/R x (1 – e –tR/L )
• Current will start from zero and will rise to approximately 63% of the maximum current after a
time equals to time constant L/R. In practice the value of current is considered to be maximum
(I=V/R) after a period of time equal to 5L/R
• The voltage across the inductor at a given time is given by the relationship: VL = V x e –tR/L
• Inductor Inductor Voltage (VL) (Volts)
Inductor Current (I) (Amps)
voltage will be
max. Current (V/R Amps) Supply Voltage V
approximately
37% of the 63% of max current
supply voltage
V after one
time constant 37% of V
L/R and after
5L/R it is in 0 0
practice zero Time constant = L/R
time (secs) Time constant = L/R time (secs)

Inductor current build up curve Inductor voltage decay graph

MCAST EEI NDE1: Unit 35 - Electronics 59

Applications