[[Electronic Components MOC]] [[Power Regulators]] Current is flowing through an inductor ![[A511C23F-CC72-4F95-8678-472D7423C48E.jpeg]] And then it gets disconnected quickly ![[5A6E9427-214A-477C-8060-3CC193080897.jpeg]] The coil now releases the potential energy it’s holding and induces a current in the opposite direction ![[8402EC27-87F2-476A-A339-819D170A8818.jpeg]] this is bad, can cause sparks at the open switch ![[32C345CD-87F5-4552-AEBB-C12C2081ED09.jpeg]] Now add a flyback diode - when the switch is closed it doesn’t do much, very little current goes that way ![[E0C10FFB-1A4F-4F12-819D-AD442C64D2E0.jpeg]] When the switch is open, the flyback diode provides a path for current to flow through the coil outside of the rest of the circuit. ### References https://www.smps.us/SMPS_design_handbook_flyback.pdf