There are several types of inductors, but the main types of the inductor are:
- Air-core Inductors
- Iron-core Inductors
- Ferrite-core Inductors
- Variable Inductors
- Multi-winding Inductors
Air-core Inductors
These inductors have no core material and are simply a coil of wire. They are typically used in high-frequency circuits because they have low losses.
Symbol
Applications
- RF Circuits
- Oscillators
- High-Frequency Power Supplies
- Antennas
- Motor Control
Iron-core Inductors
These inductors use a core made of iron or a similar magnetic material. They have a higher inductance than air-core inductors but also have higher losses at high frequencies.
Symbol
Applications
- Power supplies
- Transformers
- Low-frequency circuits
- Chokes
- DC-DC Converters
Ferrite-core Inductors
These inductors have a core made of ferrite, a type of ceramic material with high magnetic permeability. They are widely used in power electronics, RF and high-frequency circuits.
Symbol
Applications
- Power Electronics
- Switching Power Supplies
- Common-mode chokes
- Inductive Sensing
- EMI/EMC filters
Variable Inductors
Variable inductors are inductors that adjust the inductance, either by moving the coil with respect to the core or by changing the number of turns of wire in the coil .l.
Symbol
Applications
- Tuning circuits
- Impedance matching
- Filter circuits
- RF Amplifiers
- Oscillator circuits
Multi-winding Inductors
These inductors have multiple coils of wire on a single core, they can be designed to give different values of inductance or to provide a degree of isolation between the windings.
Applications
- Audio circuits
- Transformer
- Power Supplies
- RF Circuits
- Motor Control