At the Frontiers of Science Superconductivity and Its Electric Power Applications
Electricity - it is one of our modern scientific miracles, and today we could not imagine living without it. But what if we could make it better? Superconductivity has the potential to do just that, by improving the capacity, quality, and reliability of products that use electricity. There has been a great deal of discussion about superconductivity in the last 10 years, but what exactly is it? In this document you will learn the definition of superconductivity, how it works, and its present and potential uses. You will also get an inside look at the challenges that scientists around the world are working to overcome in order to fully incorporate superconductivity in our everyday lives. When you turn on a lamp at home, the electric current flows - is conducted - through a wire made of copper or aluminum. Along the way, this wire resists the flow of electricity, and this resistance is something very much like friction. The resistance causes some of the electricity to be lost in the form of heat. Which means that every time you use an appliance, from a radio to a generator, you are not getting 100% of the energy that flows through it; some of it is wasted by the conductor. Superconductivity - the ability of a material to conduct electricity without losses to resistance - is a physical property inherent to a variety of metals and ceramics, much the same way magnetism is present in a variety of materials. It is dependent on temperature; that is, a material will not exhibit superconductivity until it is sufficiently cold. The necessary temperatures to induce superconductivity are well below what we might commonly consider 'cold.' They are so low, in fact, that they are measured using the Kelvin temperature scale (K). Absolute zero, or 0 K, is equal to -459 Fahrenheit (F). It is defined as the lowest temperature theoretically possible, or the complete absence of heat. In 1911, working in a laboratory in Holland, the Dutch scientist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes cooled mercury to 4 K (-452 F), almost absolute zero; at this temperature, the motion of individual atoms nearly ceased. Scientists were unsure what effect this extremely low temperature would have on resistance; most suspected resistance would increase as atomic motion slowed. However, during routine measurements of the mercury, it appeared that there was no electrical resistance. Onnes assumed his equipment was broken, but days later he confirmed that, near absolute zero, mercury did completely lose electrical resistance. Onnes had discovered superconductivity.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 986655
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/GO-10098-434; TRN: US201018%%305
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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