Inductor Symbol

Inductor Symbol

The current, i that flows through an inductor produces a magnetic flux that is proportional to it. But unlike a Capacitor which oppose a change of voltage across their plates, an inductor opposes the rate of change of current flowing through it due to the build up of self-induced energy within its magnetic field.

In other words, inductors resist or oppose changes of current but will easily pass a steady state DC current. This ability of an inductor to resist changes in current and which also relates current, i with its magnetic flux linkage, NΦ as a constant of proportionality is called Inductance which is given the symbol L with units of Henry, (H) after Joseph Henry.

Because the Henry is a relatively large unit of inductance in its own right, for the smaller inductors sub-units of the Henry are used to denote its value. For example:

Inductance Prefixes

So to display the sub-units of the Henry we would use as an example:

• 1mH = 1 milli-Henry  –  which is equal to one thousandths (1/1000) of an Henry.

• 100μH = 100 micro-Henries  –  which is equal to 100 millionth’s (1/1,000,000) of a Henry.

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