Inductors are rated in ___.

Inductors are rated in ___.

• A. Millihenries (mH)
• B. Henries (H)
• C. Microhenries (µH)
• D. Nanohenries (nH)

Answer: (A)

Inductance is what an inductor’s rating describes—the amount of opposition it offers to changes in current and how much energy it can store. In practice, engineers express this inductance in henries and convenient submultiples. Most common, everyday inductors fall into a range where millihenries (mH) are a practical, readable unit, since 1 mH is 0.001 H. Using millihenries avoids writing unwieldy decimal numbers for typical component values (many inductors used in filters, power supplies, and timing circuits sit in the mH range). Smaller inductors used in RF circuits are often given in microhenries (µH) or nanohenries (nH), while very large inductances would approach full henries. So, for the common range of inductance values encountered, millihenries are the most convenient and widely used unit.

Inductance is what an inductor’s rating describes—the amount of opposition it offers to changes in current and how much energy it can store. In practice, engineers express this inductance in henries and convenient submultiples. Most common, everyday inductors fall into a range where millihenries (mH) are a practical, readable unit, since 1 mH is 0.001 H. Using millihenries avoids writing unwieldy decimal numbers for typical component values (many inductors used in filters, power supplies, and timing circuits sit in the mH range).

Smaller inductors used in RF circuits are often given in microhenries (µH) or nanohenries (nH), while very large inductances would approach full henries. So, for the common range of inductance values encountered, millihenries are the most convenient and widely used unit.