We call a torroidal inductor a choke. I am aware of the differences between the two, but for slang it is common to use torroid to describe a torroidal transformer and choke to describe a torroidal inductor. That is just the terms I have come into contact with, so maybe in other electronics areas they do not use these terms.
You are correct that my statement that a transformer is another name for the torroid is incorrect theoretically. In reality, the inductor would more correctly be called a torroid, but in some areas of electronics is is easier to specify the transformer as the torroid to avoid confusion with other voltage-stepping devices.

[ November 26, 2004, 01:51 PM: Message edited by: seege ]

 

I guess most of the readers might be confused with the interchange of terms, when the actual definition of a torroid differs from a transformer. In applications such as RAM construction and programmable logic arrays, there are many types of voltage "transformers" such as op amps and capacitors with changable dielectric values in addition to the standard torroid transformer, so the term transformer can be confusing as to what device is being refered to. Therefore, it is often less confusing to call the inductance-based transformer a torroid so it doesn't get mixed up with other "transformers".

In an amplifier application though, you are correct; the transformer should not be refered to as a torroid because there are no other voltage transformation devices, so it would be less confusing to just call it a transformer.

 

i torroid is just a diffenent way of winding a transformer
the purpose of a inductor is totally different than a transformer
a inductor is a filter

 

Ummm, I am sorry, you guys have obviously not been to a high calibre school. Otherwise you would know these things are called thingamajigs, doohickies and whatchamacallits.
Oh, and when they blow up they smell really funny, don't ask how I know that.

 

An inductor is not totally different from a transformer. A transformer is just two inductors sharing a common core. Since the magnetic flux is the same through the core and self-inductance is minimal, we can get a voltage transformation going from one inductor to the other. Inductors are only widely used as filters in audio and signal transfer areas. They are also very widely used in computer clocks (the one that determines Hz, not the one that tells time), flip-flop recognition circuits,capacitor-based dynamic RAM, generators, and electromagnets for their ability to store magnetic energy and create magnetic fields.

 

josh you never fail to amaze me.. LOL..

Livin Loud

 

an inductor and a transformer are used for to different purposes

the only thing they share is that they are wire wound and use magnatism to do what is required
there purpose is something different

thats like saying a slolum car and a rail car are the same
they both share and engine wheels and frame
but what they do are totally two different things

 

I didn't say that a transformer and inductor do the same thing, I just said that they are very closely related since a transformer is made from two or more inductors. An inductor really doesn't have a set "purpose"; the inductors in your amplifier, computer, speaker, generator, or tesla coil are basically the same thing, but have very different purposes.
A transformer is just another use for an inductor, even though it can be used to do different things. Saying they are totally different is like saying a lawnmower engine and a car engine are totally different because they do different things.

I think I am just going to call them all doohickies from now on, and I will use the smell they make when they blow up to tell them apart.

[ November 29, 2004, 02:12 AM: Message edited by: seege ]