hi,
i'll try to answer without math (to not scare anybody away :grin: )
-Consider a steady state for an initial moment of time, for example at t0;
-Let's consider that at this moment of time t0, the transistor is not conducting . This implies that the 5 V power supply charges up the series resonant circuit LC .
-The ''charge up'' that begins from this moment t0 is a transient process ( A coil stores energy in it's magnetic field and a capacitor stores energy in it's electric field) During this, current flow is present in one direction through the LC circuit.
-if the tranzistor is commanded in conduction after t0, during the transient process at a moment t , the LC circuit (gets shorted ) enters in an other transient state in which the capacitor let's free its energy acting like a power supply that feeds the coil. The coil also produces a reverse voltage drop due to auto induction. This implies also a current flow through the LC circuit, but in revers sense.
- so if we produce this transient states by commanding the transistor on/off, an alternating current flow will produce alternating voltage drops in the LC circuit's elements (L and C).
(- The maximum amplitude for the alternating voltage is achieved if the tranzistor changes state at the end of the transient periods, this condition is satisfied only for a particular case , the resonant frequency. )