If a capacitor charges up, what does an inductor do?
A capacitor is like a spring, an inductor is like a flywheel or mass. A capacitor stores energy in an E-field, an inductor stores energy in a Magnetic field. The series resistance of an inductor is like the leakage conductance of a capacitor. If you shorted a perfect inductor, the core would remain charged with a magnetic field.
Caps and inductors are duals. When a current is applied to a cap the voltage changes. When a voltage is applied to an inductor, the current changes.
A capacitor charges up by storing energy in its electric field, an inductor charges up by storing energy in its magnetic field. A capacitor does not need a continuous current to sustain its electric field, but an inductor needs a continuous current to sustain its magnetic field.
