The war in West Asia has resulted in a severe disruption to cooking gas supplies in India and driven up the price of LPG cylinders. This has led to a surge in the sale of induction cooktops in the country.Traditional gas stoves rely on combustion to create an open flame. But an induction cooktop bypasses this combustive chemical reaction. Its glass surface also remains relatively cool.So how does it manage to cook your food? The answer to that lies in the simple concept of electromagnetic induction. We explain:Beneath the smooth ceramic or glass surface of an induction cooktop sits a tightly wound coil of copper wire. Switching the stove on completes the circuit and allows the flow of alternating current (AC) through the wire. The alternating current generates a rapidly fluctuating magnetic field directly above the cooktop.This changing magnetic field passes effortlessly through the glass surface and the surrounding air without heating either the surface or the air. This allows the cooktop surface to largely maintain its temperature. Any warmth it acquires is from contact with the hot pan. The electronics and coil inside an induction cooker. Wikimedia CommonsBut why is some cookware not compatible with induction cooktops? That’s because induction works best with ferromagnetic cookware — materials like iron or certain steels that respond to magnetic fields. Sometimes, only the base of the cookware may be made of such materials. This is what is marketed as “induction base”.The metallic pan acts as a conductorSo how does the food get hot? Here’s where we get into some science, specifically Faraday’s Law of Induction. This law says that a changing magnetic field shall induce a voltage and, consequently, an electric current in any and all nearby electrical conductors — for example metal.Story continues below this adSo when the metal pan sits inside this intensely fluctuating magnetic field, it acts as a conductor. And localised, swirling electrical currents are generated inside the bottom of the pan itself.Known as eddy currents, these are pivotal to the heat-generation process.But metals such as iron are not perfect conductors. They have an inherent electrical resistance.So when the eddy currents swirl through the atomic structure of the pan’s base, they encounter this resistance. The ensuing electrical friction between the two converts the kinetic energy of the moving electrons directly into thermal energy (heat).Story continues below this adAlso Read | Iran war: Why Flipkart and Amazon are seeing a spike in induction cooktop salesThis process is governed by Joule’s Law of Heating. Simply put, it calculates the exact heat generated by measuring the amount of electrical current, a material’s natural resistance, and the time required for the power to be turned on.Crucially, it highlights that increasing the current has a massive, squared impact on the temperature, rather than just a proportional one. In practical terms, this means that doubling the electricity flowing through a wire will actually quadruple the amount of heat it produces.Why an induction pan is so energy efficientWhen the pan itself becomes the primary heat source, the energy transfer also becomes efficient. Induction cooktops convert about 85% to 90% of their electrical energy directly into cooking heat. In stark contrast, traditional LPG stoves hover around 40% to 50% efficiency. While a gas flame loses a massive amount of its thermal energy to the ambient air around the pot, induction targets the heat exactly where it is needed.Story continues below this adUltimately, this localised heating is exactly why induction cooking is faster, safer and ultimately a highly resilient alternative to unpredictable fossil fuels.However, such cooktops are not without drawbacks. They are less durable than LPG stoves, harder to repair, dependent on electricity (which can be unreliable in India) and not compatible with all cooking styles.But with the crisis in the Gulf showing little sign of abating, it is an option that many are turning to.