Which of the following components would most likely be used to temporarily store electrical energy?

A capacitor is the correct choice for temporarily storing electrical energy. It operates by accumulating and holding an electrical charge in an electric field, which allows it to release that energy quickly when needed. This capability makes capacitors ideal for applications such as smoothing out voltage fluctuations, providing bursts of power, and timing applications because they can charge and discharge quickly.

Fuses, on the other hand, are safety devices designed to break the circuit if the current exceeds a certain level, thereby protecting components from damage. Relays are electromechanical switches that use an electromagnetic coil to control the opening and closing of a circuit, and inductors store energy in a magnetic field when current flows through them, but this energy is stored over a longer period compared to the fast discharge capability of a capacitor. Therefore, while inductors are also related to energy storage, they do not serve the same immediate energy storage function as capacitors do.