Stored Energy Ceiling Three-Row Scan - Electronic Circuits XIII & XIV: Power Supplies and Switching Energy Step by Step

Stored inductor energy grows with current squared, so the ceiling can be safe at low current, exactly reached, and exceeded by the next row. With 2 H, currents 1, 2, and 3 A store 1, 4, and 9 J against a 4 J ceiling exactly for the ideal inductor model; real inductors add saturation, winding resistance, core loss, thermal limits, ripple, current-sense tolerance, and energy measurement uncertainty.

The square-current energy ledger is checked against an energy ceiling. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

1 A energy row

Inductance stays 2 H. Current 1 A stores 1 J against a 4 J ceiling, so margin is 3 J.

E=1\ \text{J},\quad m=3\ \text{J}\Rightarrow\text{pass}

2 A energy row

Inductance stays 2 H. Current 2 A stores 4 J against a 4 J ceiling, so margin is 0 J.

E=4\ \text{J},\quad m=0\ \text{J}\Rightarrow\text{pass}

3 A energy row

Inductance stays 2 H. Current 3 A stores 9 J against a 4 J ceiling, so margin is negative 5 J.

E=9\ \text{J},\quad m=-5\ \text{J}\Rightarrow\text{fail}