Inductor leading lagging voltage-current

[superslow991]

Trying to understand how in a conductor in an Ac circuit, the voltage leads the current.
AS far as i read the voltage and the current max do not peak at the same time? Also because of lenz law the behavior of the coil resist the build up of the current so it takes time for a change in voltage to force a change in current?
Any explanation will help.

 

[davenn]

Trying to understand how in a conductor in an Ac circuit, the voltage leads the current.
AS far as i read the voltage and the current max do not peak at the same time? Also because of lenz law the behavior of the coil resist the build up of the current so it takes time for a change in voltage to force a change in current?
Any explanation will help.

what education level are you ... you listed your thread as I for intermediate but your question indicates basic
... just so people can give you a good and relevant answer

for a start you can do some reading, there is tons of info online

http://www.bing.com/search?q=Induct...opResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=&pc=EUPP_Dave

 

[rumborak]

Did you by any chance mean "inductor" when you wrote conductor?

To actually answer your question, I must ask whether you know what a derivative is in math. Because what actually happens in an inductor/coil is that the voltage is proportional to the derivative of the current. Or stated the other way around, the current is proportional to the integral of the voltage.

That of course means, yes, the current "follows sluggishly" to the changes of an external voltage. Interestingly, it also means that cutting the wire in a circuit like that causes an huge voltage because the current is suddenly forced to zero, and the derivative of that sudden drop is very large.