A load being inductive, capacitive, or reactive has to do with its impedance, which is a concept related to the steady-state analysis of AC networks. The hydra

A load being inductive, capacitive, or reactive has to do with its impedance, which is a concept related to the steady-state analysis of AC networks. The hydraulic analogy easily extends here - just imagine water flowing back and forth. This is well studied [1] and power engineering books make use of this analogy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy.