There are so many applications of wireless charging in today’s world. Its many benefits including reduced use of cords, universal compatibility and safety guarantee that it will be here for long and there is so much in store for users who love style and convenience.

Everyone is curious how wireless charging works and whether it is indeed safe. We put together this post to give in-depth answers to such questions.

How it works

Wireless or Qi charging utilizes the principle of inductive power transfer or magnetic resonance. To transfer energy from the source to your device, it is transformed into electromagnetic waves which easily go through air and are then picked by a special receiver placed on your phone’s back side.
The charging pad or base station has an induction coil that produces an electromagnetic field of alternating current, which the phone’s receiver coil has to change back to its original electric state.

A few methods used to achieve wireless charging include:

Radio charging

This method of wireless charging is generally implemented in electrical appliances that are equipped with relatively small batteries or those that need minimal amounts of power to operate. Such devices include music players, smartphones, medical devices, wireless mice, smartwatches, wireless keyboards and more.

The receiver installed on the device produces electromagnetic waves that match the frequency of those generated by the transmitter, allowing electricity to be transferred from the pad to the device.

Inductive charging

The inductive charging method is utilized by devices that consume medium amounts of energy and are powered by larger batteries. Devices that fall into this category include kitchen appliances, larger smartphones, some music players and tablets.

With inductive charging, the device that needs to get charged is strategically placed on a base station or wireless charging pad plugged into an external power source such as a wall socket.

Inductive charging is faster than radio charging for mid-sized devices.

Resonance charging

Resonance charging is used to power consumer devices that require large amounts of power. These include vacuum cleaners, computers, robots and electric cars. With resonance charging, a copper coil installed on the device is adjusted to the exact frequency of the electromagnetic waves produced by the power source.

Devices that are dedicated to this charging method cannot use any other wireless charging method.

Safety concerns of wireless charging

A considerable amount of heat is generated by wireless charging techniques. With larger batteries, the heat generated calls for the following thermal controlling techniques:

Air cooling

To cool the components, air absorbs heat from the battery through convection. Air passing through the surface takes away all the heat generated by the system. The cooling method is simple but not as efficient as liquid cooling.

Liquid cooling

Liquids make efficient coolants because they can be heated to high temperatures without changing their state. Liquid cooling systems perform excellently and are more suitable than for device cooling needs.

The electric field created by charging pads is not capable of resulting in any effect to the human body. Moreover, all components are safely tucked away in thick plastic to reduce the risk of electric shock. Simply put, wireless charging is completely safe.