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At switch on a large current flows ; that is converted into a magnetic field by the windings
The electrical energy is stored in the magnetic field in the inductor core
At switch off coils tries to maintain the current, by increasing the terminal voltage.
v = L x (di/dt)
As klystron says, but if you have a simple switch, switching off causes the current to fall to zero quickly, so as the magnetic field collapses, it generates a huge voltage spike that will flash across the switch contacts as they open. This is why switches/relays/contacters and transistors need to be a bit special if they are called to deal with current switching in inductive circuits. The energy stored in the magnetic field is 1/2 X I^2 X L and this energy has to dissipated somewhere, mainly as heat in the arc at the switch contacts.
Frank
As the guys before have explained very nicely, the inductor uses a magnetic field to store energy.
This is the counterpose of a capacitor, which stores energy in an electric field. The have the same concept (energy storage), but different implementations. One performs circuit operations by maintaining/resisting a change in current flow (inductor), the other, by maintaining/resisting a change in voltage (capacitor).
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