Inductors store energy in magnetic fields created by the flow of current through coils, while capacitors store electrical energy in electrostatic fields between charged plates.
Inductors store energy in the form of a magnetic field when electrical current flows through them, while capacitors store energy as an electric field between their plates when voltage is applied.
A capacitor can store energy in the electric field, and an inductor can store energy in the magnetic field. This is different with a resistor that consumes or dissipates electric energy.
Capacitors and inductors store energy because they can store electric and magnetic fields, respectively, which represent stored energy in the form of electric potential or magnetic flux.
As capacitors store energy in the electric field, so inductors store energy in the magnetic field. Both capacitors and inductors have many uses with time-varying currents.
The capacity to store energy makes them useful as temporary volt-age or current sources. Thus, they can be used for generating a large amount of current or voltage for a short period of time.
Inductors store energy in magnetic fields created by the flow of current through coils, while capacitors store electrical energy in electrostatic fields between charged plates.
Think of a capacitor as a tiny battery that hoards energy in an electric field between its plates. Inductors, meanwhile, store energy in a magnetic field when current flows through their coils.
Inductors and capacitors are energy storage devices, which means energy can be stored in them. But they cannot generate energy, so these are passive devices. The inductor stores energy in its magnetic field; the capacitor stores energy in its electric field.
The energy of a capacitor is stored within the electric field between two conducting plates while the energy of an inductor is stored within the magnetic field of a conducting coil.
Like Peter Diehr says in the comments, the way to see the duality between inductors and capacitors is that capacitors store energy in an electric field, inductors store energy in a magnetic field. But if we cut off current, will the magnetic field stay there?
The inductor stores energy in its magnetic field; the capacitor stores energy in its electric field. The behavior of the inductor is based on the properties of the magnetic field generated in a coil of wire. In fact, the inductor is basically a coil of wire.
The energy in a capacitor can be thought as being stored in the electric field. The energy is stored in the magnetic field for an inductor which needs to have charges moving, an electric current. So if the current is reduced or eventually made zero the magnetic field would be reduced and so the energy stored in the inductor decreases.
But they cannot generate energy, so these are passive devices. The inductor stores energy in its magnetic field; the capacitor stores energy in its electric field. The behavior of the inductor is based on the properties of the magnetic field generated in a coil of wire.
Also, if we continuously give current to an inductor, it will create a continuously increasing magnetic field until it reaches a maximum and stop the flow of current, similar to what capacitors do? As capacitors store energy in the electric field, so inductors store energy in the magnetic field.
The behavior of the capacitor is based on the properties of the electric field created in a dielectric (non-conductor) placed between two conductors. The capacitor is basically a non-conductor sandwiched between two conductors. There is a relationship between current and voltage for an inductor, just as there is for a resistor.
