what is inductive reactance?

Question

just wondering

Answer 1

Inductive reactance, or just reactance, is a measure of how much an inductive load, that is, a coil, resists a change in the current flowing through it. A resistor impedes the flow of current irrespective of its frequency, that is, the number of times per second it changes direction. A capacitor offers infinite resistance to a direct current; it's two parallel conductors with an insulating gap between them, but it appears to conduct when you apply an alternating current to the plates because you're continually charging and discharging it. The higher the frequency of the current, the lower the apparent resistance. A coil behaves the opposite way;when you pass a current through it, a magnetic field builds up, and this opposes the build-up of current. The higher the frequency of the current, the more resistance the coil presents to it because you're constantly opposing the changing magnetic field. Ordinary resistance is measured in ohms, capacitance in farads and reactance in henries.

Answer 2

When the current in an Inductor changes, a back emf is created that opposes the change in current, and the faster the initial change in current the greater the back emf. So it is not surprising that, the faster rates of change of current that occur as the frequency of the wave increases, produce a greater back emf effect that in turn, reduces
current flow more than it does at lower frequencies.
This variable opposition to current flow in an inductor, is related to the amount of the inductance, because the larger the value of inductance the greater the back emf effect produced. The opposition to current flow through an
inductor is proportional to both the amount of inductance and to the frequency of the current in the inductor. This opposition to current flow is called INDUCTIVE REACTANCE (XL). The formula for Inductive Reactance multiplies the angular velocity of the AC wave by the value of Inductance:
2πƒL or ωL
Where 2πƒ or ω is the angular velocity and L is the inductance in henries.

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