This mainly depends on the design and material of the saucepan in question. Cooking by induction relies on using magnetic field induction to heat the cooking utensil directly instead of using an external heating element. For that reason, the saucepan, or at least its base, needs to be made of a material that has electromagnetic properties. Unfortunately, both copper and aluminum don’t have magnetic properties like cast iron and stainless steel, so they’re typically not compatible with induction stovetops. However, there is a popular workaround that solves this problem simply by using a magnetized base, which is a very thin layer of stainless steel at the bottom of your saucepan that activates the induction stove. Some people may debate that adding a sheet of stainless steel at the bottom would defeat the purpose of using aluminum and copper, which both have better heat retaining properties. Yet, a lot of cooks have noticed that the layer of stainless steel is too thin to cause any performance problems.