What is inductive charging?

Gone are the days when one had to deal with the tangle of wires with their device, with wireless technology taking the world by storm. Well, the most recent gadgets to jump on the bandwagon are smartphone chargers. 

What seemed to be straight out of science fiction until a few years ago, is very much real now. You can now charge your devices without having to deal with a mess of wires, accidentally tugging, tripping or stepping on them, and subsequently damaging them in the process. How, you ask? We’ve got two words for you – inductive charging.

What is inductive charging and how does it work?

Almost all devices which support wireless charging today use inductive charging. It is a technology which allows for devices such as smartphones, tablets, and even wearable devices to be charged by simply placing them on a special charging pad or mat.  

How they do this, is using an electromagnetic induction field, which was first discovered by scientist Michael Faraday. When a device is placed on the charging pad, it is placed within an electromagnetic field. This causes a current to flow through the coils in the pad and a corresponding coil present in the device. This current creates an oscillating magnetic field, which in turn generates an alternating current in the device’s coil. Thus, AC current is used to charge the device’s battery. For charging to take place, the coils inside the charging pad and the device need to be aligned to a certain degree.  

Inductive charging is convenient as it eliminates the need for cords and cables. Did we also mention the reduced power consumption, ensuring you don’t end up spending a bomb on electricity bills? There is, of course, also the fact that inductive charging is extremely easy to understand, and also saves you the effort of fumbling around, trying to find the right port and plugging in the charger.