Inductors are a form of passive device like a capacitor; they’re designed to deal with magnetism and control magnetic flux. They are very effective in slowing down current surges or spikes and releasing the stored energy back into the circuit.

Inductors, also known as coils, chokes or reactors, are characterised by inductance, which is the ratio of the voltage to the rate of change of current. They’re frequently used in radio equipment to block AC and allow DC. An example of this passive component being used day-to-day is the ferrite bead on your laptop's power cable, which is designed for reducing electrical noise.

Inductors are usually a length of wire wound to create a coil around a core material with high insulator properties. However, inductors are more than just a coil of wire with an insulating material in the middle, in the application, inductors are a key component to a circuit.

RS offer an extensive range of high-quality devices from leading brands including KEMET, Wurth Elektronik, Murata, Panasonic and of course RS PRO.

What are the different types?

Wire-wound surface mount inductors – these are usually a wire coil wrapped around a magnetic component

Leaded inductors - come in two main categories and are used in low and high voltage situations

Multi-layer surface mount inductors - this is a style of the coil that has several layers of wire wrapped around an inductor, with layers of insulation, added to give a high inductance level.

What applications are they used in?

The devices are used in electrical power and electronic devices for:

• Impedance matching
• Storing energy in power converters
• Chocking, blocking, filtering and smoothing noise in electrical circuits

We also carry inductor components for both EMI and RFI and a variety of wireless charging coils. Wireless charging coils are used for DC-DC currents and are used for inductive charging; any wireless charger runs using this inductive component.