Which type of electrical circuit element converts electrical energy into magnetic energy?

An inductor is the type of electrical circuit element that converts electrical energy into magnetic energy. It achieves this through the principle of electromagnetic induction, wherein a coil of wire creates a magnetic field when an electric current passes through it. The magnetic field is directly proportional to the amount of current flowing and the number of turns in the coil.

When the current flowing through the inductor changes, the magnetic field also changes, which can induce a voltage in the coil itself, an effect defined by Faraday's law of induction. This ability to store energy in the magnetic field distinguishes inductors from other components like resistors, which dissipate energy as heat, and capacitors, which store energy in the electric field created between their plates. Transformers, while related to inductors, work by transferring energy between circuits through inductive coupling rather than directly converting electrical energy into magnetic energy on their own.