When the current is increasing, the voltage drops across the inductor. I don't understand how the induced electric field is accomplishing this. Is the induced electric field doing work on the incoming current and transforming its potential energy into thermal energy?
Is the induced electric field doing work on the incoming current and transforming its potential energy into thermal energy?
The electric field is doing work to produce a current through the inductor, but for an ideal inductor with zero ohmic resistance it is not transforming electrical potential energy into thermal energy, but into the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductor. The instantaneous energy $E$ stored in the magnetic field of an inductor of inductance $L$is given by the following equation, where $I$ is the instantaneous current through the inductor.
$$E=1/2LI^2$$
When the current decreases the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductor is returned to the circuit as electrical potential energy. However, since there is always some resistance in the inductor and the circuit that it is in, some energy will be dissipated as resistance heating.
Hope this helps.
