Inductors

Ask your students this question: given capacitors and inductors, which of these component types behave more like resistors, in terms of their series versus parallel equivalent values?

It is most helpful to first draw a schematic diagram for this inductor network before trying to perform any inductance calculations, in order that a clear understanding of the series/parallel connections be established.

Inductors tend to be even more scarce than resistors in regard to the availability of different values, so knowing how to combine different inductors together to achieve a desired total inductance is a practical skill.

It should be noted to your students that inductors may interact with one another if placed too close, due to the magnetic field of one inductor “linking” with the coil of another inductor. This is called mutual inductance, and if present alters the otherwise straightforward series-parallel inductance relationships that one would expect to be analogous to series-parallel resistances.