Infrastructure
Magnetic Induction
Category
Infrastructure
Abstraction level
Primitive
Operation level
Deployment
Use cases
Transformers (conventional and high-frequency)Electric motors and generatorsWireless charging
How it works
An alternating current in one winding produces a changing magnetic field that, threading a second winding, induces a voltage in it (Faraday's law); the turns ratio sets the voltage transformation, and the absence of a conductive link provides isolation.
Problem solved
How to transfer energy and signals between circuits without a direct wire connection, using a magnetic field?
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
✓Energy transfer without direct contact
✓Provides galvanic isolation
✓Foundation of nearly all electrical infrastructure
Limitations
✗Requires a changing field (does not work for steady DC)
✗Core and winding losses
✗Core size grows at low frequencies