Electronic – AC through Inductor

acfilteringinductor

I know that Inductor opposes an instant change in current direction. But it is used in AC circuits and in low pass filter circuits. It's a little bit confusing for me. If it resists instant change in current, then how it is possible that AC supply can pass through an inductor? To say clearly, I need to know how AC passes through an inductor and how it allows a low-frequency AC signals in filtering. Also, clearly explain what happens exactly in the inductor when AC passes through the inductor? Thanks, in Advance.

Best Answer

Here's a hand-waving answer with no maths.

An inductor is just a coil of wire. It may have a ferrite or iron core, but it doesn't have to.

A coil of wire is an electromagnet. Pass a current through it, and it generates a magnetic field. A DC current gives a steady magnetic field, while an AC current gives an alternating field.

If you apply a varying magnetic field to a coil of wire, you get a generator. Most practical generators move the coil while keeping the magnets fixed, because that's easier. But it works the other way round as well. The voltage you get out of a generator depends on how fast the magnetic field is changing. So if you spin a generator really fast, you get more voltage than if you spin it slowly.

Putting the two together, if you pass a DC current through an inductor, you get a steady magnetic field and nothing else happens.

If you pass AC through it, you generate an alternating magnetic field. But an alternating magnetic field turns it into a generator, which generates a voltage to oppose your current.

If it's low frequency AC, then the magnetic field is only changing slowly, so the voltage it produces is quite weak. But for high frequency AC, the field is changing faster, and the reverse voltage is stronger.

So inductors don't block DC, but they do block AC, and they block high frequencies more strongly than low frequencies.