The calculator below can be used to determine the total equivalent inductance of up to four (4) inductors in parallel.
Inductors are in series when there is a single current path that travels through each resistor in order.
Inductors are in parallel when there are multiple current paths that may have different values of resistance.
One of the most important quantities is the equivalent inductance of the circuit.
Even though inductors may come in complex configurations, we can model the circuit as a single inductor (just as we can model it as a single resistor or capacitor). This inductor will have the value of the equivalent inductance of the whole circuit.
Inductance is abbreviated by the letter ‘L’, and inductors in a circuit are identified as ‘L1’, ‘L2’, ‘L3’, etc. The SI unit of inductance is the henry.
Formula for Inductors in Parallel
Like resistors in parallel (and capacitors in series), inductors in parallel have a total equivalent inductance that is less than the value of any of the inductors in the circuit.
To find the total inductance in a parallel circuit, we must calculate the reciprocal (‘ one over 1/ ‘) of the sum of the reciprocal of each individual value of inductance:
L_{eq} = \frac{1}{\frac{1}{L_1}+\frac{1}{L_2}+\frac{1}{L_3}+...+\frac{1}{L_N}}=(\frac{1}{L_1}+\frac{1}{L_2}+\frac{1}{L_3}+...+\frac{1}{L_N})^{-1}If this calculator, didn’t help, check out our other calculators for electronics or our comprehensive tutorials!