How is total inductance calculated when inductors are connected in parallel?

When inductors are connected in parallel, the total inductance can be calculated using the reciprocal formula. This approach is similar to calculating total resistance for resistors in parallel. The formula is expressed as the reciprocal of the total inductance equating to the sum of the reciprocals of each individual inductance.

Mathematically, this is represented as 1/L_total = 1/L_1 + 1/L_2 + ... + 1/L_n. This means that if you have multiple inductors connected in parallel, instead of simply adding their values (as you would when they are in series), you must take the reciprocal of each inductor's value, sum those, and then take the reciprocal of that sum to find the total inductance.

This behavior arises because, in a parallel configuration, the inductors share the same voltage across them, and thus the overall effect they produce is to reduce the total inductance compared to any individual inductor. Hence, the correct formula provides a way to find the total combined inductance from those individual inductances.