Capacitor and Inductor – Can Inductor Voltage and Capacitor Current Change Abruptly?

capacitorinductor

I understand that inductor current and capacitor voltage cannot change abruptly, but can inductor voltage and capacitor current change abruptly?

I have a feeling the answer is no but I cannot explain why.

Best Answer

In an ideal world, where a capacitor has no series inductance and an inductor has no parallel capacitance, and voltage and current sources can provide voltages and currents with a step-shaped profile, the current into a capacitor and the voltage over an inductor can change abruptly.

Note that the reverse is not true: the voltage over a capacitor, and the current through an inductor, can not change abrubtly (unless you allow for non-finite currents or voltages, like a Dirac-shaped pulse).

Note that this ideal world is an mathematical abstraction, you can't buy such components.

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