Lowering Electrical Resistance with Liquid Nitrogen

[bassboylowg]

I wonder if this could be used on voice coils on a subwoofer...

A liquid nitrogen sub would destroy at SPL events and Bass Races, think I might have to try something like that one day! Hopefully the spider wouldn't freeze and shatter.

[Peter4101]

Computers run best in cooler temps. This dosen't surpise me to much.

[Biotoxin388]

@Peter4101 the wireing yes, the battery no

[Peter4101]

@Biotoxin388 If you have a batt outside the computer it will work in other words for thoughs that are reading into this a bit more.

Eletricity is a funny thing that we still have allot to understand and learn about.

[Sophesumer]

@Nurdrage

You should do a video on Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide. I'm not sure if its possible to synthesize without special equipment, but it would be awesome to see you experimenting with it.

[oconnellcom]

whatifyouusedthisonamotorthatc­ouldecreasetheelectricalresist­anceofthewindingsandwithsuperc­onductivityyoucouldachieveover­unityexceptforcoolingthecoilsd­ownhoweverifyoumadethemotorals­o,driveacompressorfortheliquid­nitrogentocoolitdownitmightbep­ossibleifyoudothatwiththegener­tatoraswellsorrymyspcebardoesn­otwork

[Xenn9956]

youre a doctor?

[aten747]

for god sakes im a doctor not a gynecologist

[crnobijeli13]

Resistance is futile

[Biospark88]

@crnobijeli13 I was about to post that. Good thing I scrolled down a few comments LOL!

[RogerReadingRainbow]

 If a device such as a tv, that receives its required amount of current over a copper wire plugged in to an electric socket, has the said copper wire's resistance lowered in the same type of way as your experiment, does OHMs law show that the voltage required to produce the same amount of required current is also dramatically reduced(therefore a significant cost reduction in power consumed as long as you have a free source of Liquid Nitrogen)? Also how long was the time lapse period?

[OmniTechnoMancer]

@RogerReadingRainbow Very little of the energy transmitted through the cable is lost as heat anyway, the voltage is constant and the current is the only thing that will increase and the power supply in the television will deal with limiting this, probably mostly by dumping the excess as heat thus undoing your work. The TV is what is consuming the largest portion of the power supplied so you will not find any significant saving by trying to lower the resistance of its power cable.

[OmniTechnoMancer]

@RogerReadingRainbow The TV cannot be cooled with liquid nitrogen to reduce its power usage because silicon has properties that vary with temperature and it will not operate within design specifications below about -45degrees C also cooling it to liquid nitrogen temperatures may cause harm.

[RogerReadingRainbow]

@OmniTechnoMancer Thanks for the helpful information!

[3Sciencenut]

no shit... it's called Superconducting.

[scienceman64]

A doctor of what? Chemistry?

[drnapster]

LOL i was watching the in a doctor medley before this video!!! :)

[METALLIKIDofTBR]

why does the narrator sound like Xerxes from 300?

[icecreammanrocker360]

why the low voice?

[ps3Gamer23100]

nice star treck joke it took me a few second to get that

[blueskiesrfiddotcom]

what practical application does this have? also, is the reduction permanent? is there a method to make it permanent?

[halofannatic]

so by lowering the resistance, does that mean it would take less energy to heat or charge with electricity?

[luigi90900]

The quote at 0:33 Was from the Voyager Episode "Prototype" where B'Elanna Torres is abducted by the Pralor automated units after going to the doctor for help in giving Automated Unit 3947 a plasma transfusion from the warp core to stabilize his power matrix.

[luigi90900]

@luigi90900 or the original series episode Mirror Mirror where they get pulled into the alternate univerce and kirk orders McCoy to help Scotty.

[737Pilot122]

It's like when car batteries freeze, that was awesome

[werewolf2018]

thats fricking awsome

[T3hpugz98]

those take so long to make even on a thinner coil

[TheChromiumDude]

This was AWESOME!!!! I don't understand most of the words but it was AWESOME!!!

[Rofex2]

NurdRage! You are Mac Gyver! ;-)

[ElectronicsPubVideos]

I love the voice!

[cardshifter]

Your a Doctor? I thought you were a Scientist.

[Almontmarine]

@cardshifter a scientist = a doctor. a doctor may not be a scientist.

[bobobano]

cool, since current and resistance are inversely related at a constant voltage, you can use this method to increase the strength of the magnet too.

[Eviscera09]

dammit jim! I'm a doctor! not an engineer!

[zinodikudu]

What do you think about putting ln2 into a thermos? I've heard people have shattered the lining inside the thermos by pouring it in too quickly, or leaving it in too long, etc...

[vmelkon]

@zinodikudu I once asked the same question. Yes, there is a risk that it will crack. The dewar in this video is probably borosilicate glass so the risk of cracking is probably non existent.

[zinodikudu]

@vmelkon Ah, makes sense. Literally last week or so, I managed to get my hands on 10L of ln2 for benchmarking purposes. I have to admit I did store it temporarily in an (OPEN) thermos, and it held up well. I poured it in slowly, and granted, it was an old thermos that was built like a good dewar. I wouldn't try it out on a plastic one though... :)

[vmelkon]

@zinodikudu You bought it on behalf of your company or school or as a amateur? I would like to buy it as a amateur from Prax-air (I'm in Canada) but I haven't asked them yet.

[zinodikudu]

@vmelkon, as an ameteur. Honestly, I went to praxair as well! :)

[tomasmerida]

what happen if i pressurized de nitrogen i wont last long or even forever?

[heatflash888]

Already you can see the resistance dropping, and as I splashed some on my hand its also dropping - off

[bulldog51]

i like how you used a chain from a wallet to support the cylinder

[NurdRage]

I never said or even implied it was rocket science.

[mrwideboy]

sorry i didnt mean to up set you

[lorilynnzahottie]

@NurdRage I LOVE THIS GUY !!!

[maxpoweruk2008]

@mrwideboy asshole

[efJavaking]

@mrwideboy secondard?

[GTHaroFITBMX]

@mrwideboy go suck ur ice cream and watch ur tv u fat earthquake-causing lowlife.

[sirMAXX77]

i do have one question. ive made a few good sized solenoids before and ive had a bitch of a time as the layers increase, how did you get such a clean winding without those little gaps forming?

[ApolloWasReal]

Here's a related demo. Connect a 50 ohm scope terminator to one end of a coax cable and plug the other into a low noise vhf/uhf single sideband (SSB) amateur radio receiver. Dunk the terminator in LN2. The audio noise level from the receiver will drop dramatically. You're literally hearing the thermal vibrations in the resistor slow down.

This is one standard way of measuring the internal noise in a radio preamplifier.

[NurdRage]

Now that is a good idea, I gotta try that :)

[ApolloWasReal]

It's important that the receive be sensitive, or its own noise will swamp the thermal noise from the resistor. The receiver must also operate in a linear mode, i.e., single sideband, not FM.

If the receiver generated no noise of its own, the output noise would be directly proportional to temperature. You can compute the receiver noise temperature from the measured noise ratio, room temperature and the temperature of boiling LN2.

[mrbest20]

NOW IT HAVES THE SAME OHM as a speaker :D

almost :D:D:D:D you can use it as a speaker too

just dont forget to put Liquid Nitrogen in it :D regulary

[boxer3main]

taking air out of copper with a cover is good as well. I wonder if the lack of oxygen is the bigger part of this ....

[NurdRage]

it's not.

[Serostern]

@boxer3main Easy to test. Submerge in liquid oxygen instead of liquid nitrogen =)

[pratt123]

@boxer3main Conductors lose resistance as their temperature drops. This is why superconductors often need liquid N2 or O2.

[mrwideboy]

@pratt123 no most superconductors need liquid helium at 4.2K

[pratt123]

@mrwideboy I was under the impression that high-temperature superconductors are being developed/used. For example, even before 1986 when high-temperature superconductors were unknown, 30 K was the limit (much higher than 4.2K). The material YBCO superconducts below 92 K, within the limit of liquid nitrogen.

[mrwideboy]

@pratt123 You are right but there is a lot if limitations it's very difficult to make those type of superconductors they are brittle so can't be wound on to a former easily ir someething to form a magnet. At the Ln2 temp range they also cant support a large current density, or magnetic fields. The major break though will be using these for computer processors.

[BestSpatula]

nice flask!

[AMT4245]

thats not a flask ^,^

[BestSpatula]

Yes it is, it's a dewar flask.

[zinodikudu]

@AMT4245 That's a dewar flask. Look it up.

[entoris476]

is your name really lithium?!

[onehotseat]

Is your actual voice that low? Sounds like its been modified...

[NOLIMIT69NOLIMIT2000]

Please subscribe, rape and condom. Naww your coo.

[NorNamor]

Well as for your question about Lovering Electrical Resistance... Electrical Resistance is the electromagnetic analogue too friction in common mechanics.. like friction in a motor (witch means energy-loss due too heat and sound/noise)...

I guess u see why its a bad thing ; P

[NorNamor]

Well if u can get superconductors it means u can "transport" electric energy completely without energy loss.

So far no1 has succeded in doing this at room temperature, but if u cool certain materials 2 extreme cold temperatures they become superconductors.

As for todays superconductors (extreme cold), the only use for those i know about is to measure extremely weak magnetic fields very precise. As for example when u do an MRI scan of the magnetic field in a persons brain.

[mack7734]

what does Lowering Electrical Resistance do? what would it be used for?

[entoris476]

makes it more conductive

see if the resistance is high less energy will be transimitted

but if its low you can pass through more energy

[Sakamachi25]

i actually like cooking with liquid nitrogen... lots of stuff you can do.

[Membrane556]

I always wonder what gains in efficiency a CO2 laser would get if I could cool it to lN2 temps without shattering the tube.

I do know diode lasers love being cold.

[vmelkon]

@Membrane556 If you cool CO2 to liquid N2 temp, then it would become snow in your laser tube.

[Membrane556]

@vmelkon

Yah your right it might even at the very low pressures a CO2 laser operates at which is around 30 torr.

It would really depend on if the waste heat of operation would keep the gas warm enough to stay above the freezing temp of CO2.

Of course I would not try it as the tube would probably crack heck I'm scared to try ice water and instead use a small radiator or just water from a tap to cool them.

Never got around to buying a chiller as they're expensive.

[EasternCalifornia]

Now I'm going to soak my computer in liquid nitrogen

[Dark0Lord7]

@EasternCalifornia That means reducing resistance of resistors and destroying some parts.

[hopper727rs]

@EasternCalifornia google it, its been done

[htirah100]

@EasternCalifornia to slow it down?

[htirah100]

@EasternCalifornia im wrong,sry

[Dark0Lord7]

@EasternCalifornia Lol, you might split the motherboard while pouring it due to the thermal difference that makes the board contract, thus breaking it.

[TutorialGeneration]

0:35 --> Epic Win!

5* for Star Trek Jokes :D

[pyromaniac4eva]

does the coil regain its resistance when in warm back to room temperature?

[empsmaster]

yes,sorry but ummm...no shit of course or wed just soak wires in liquid hellium let them warm up then use them

[David3040]

yes

[Etimos]

AWESOME! This is a question I've been asking myself for a while now, as part of my own experimentation with a superconductor-based generator. All i need now is to figure out whether a magnet will lose its field under extreme cold, as it does under heat.

[NurdRage]

I recommend you check out our video "3 cool things of science - episode 2"

[Etimos]

Thanks muchly :) From what I saw, even though the magnet was more or less dipped into the supercool liquid, its magnetic properties didnt appear to change much at all, so it would seem that magnets can retain their magnetism at supercool temperatures. Very good to know. I'm working on a little project involving superconductors and low-resistance systems, so this is very helpful.

[Etimos]

The original idea involved Neodymium magnets, but Nd is a rare metal, so it's not economical to use in large quantities, thus any steps I can take to minimize the need for Nd magnets for repulsion will be helpful.

[deeejazzy]

Can you make ice-cream with liquid nitrogen?

[OlderThan1threethree]

yes

[boredclub]

A couple weeks? O_o

[Iwantedtoknow16802]

would there ever be a practical application of this effect?

[MajereRaist]

There already are =) Google and know!

[zlzgrom86]

super overclocking of computer processors, other things too.

[JoinX3000]

Yes. If it some day will be possible to make the wires of the powerlines into superconductors, then it would be huge savings on energy that otherwise gets lost on the way due to the resistanse of the wires.

[bobris5]

yes it is used in the large hadron collider of CERN to have magnets of almost 0 resistance otherwise will get too hot

[KICKERMAN360]

Superfast computers (SuperComputers, or testing of prototypes etc). High-End Gaming computers use water to cool their electronics because the resistance creates so much heat.

[deathadder32]

Haha, YES. Superconductivity is a very practical application.

[poon5000]

This is very cool. In theory, at zero degrees kelvin there would be no resistance whatsoever!

[Drega001]

So what metals do become super conductive?

[mewrox99]

any conductive surface, the electrons move from atom to atom far more easily if the atom is vibrating

[HorrificMonstrosity]

Your videos are great. And always make me want to know more on the subject your showing. I was thinking of an experiment.

Could you take a small amount of copper wire, and a small amount of aluminum wire, same thickness and winds. Have a super magnet, display resistance and power output while spinning the magnet at low speeds. then cool them with liquid nitrogen and show. I want to see aluminum hit critical temperature and turn superconductive and I want to see how power output is effected.

[agent00redneck]

Where can you buy liquid nitrogen?

[NurdRage]

companies that sell refrigerants or "refrigeration services". Look up your local bussiness directory

[kallevigabc12]

isn't it extremely expensive

[mewrox99]

nope it's cheaper than milk

[guitar23man23]

i dont have 8th grade physics... poop.

[arckon09]

ya but did your grade 8 physics teacher actually show you? mine didn't we got to connect two light bulbs in parallel and in series...YAY!

[NurdRage]

nothing wrong with that.

[MrFrankyD]

if you sealed liquid nitrogen in a metal container would it lose its cooling capacity over time or say in 5 years would it still be cold? (Of course in a non refrigerated environment)

[NurdRage]

your bigger problem is that the nitrogen gas would continue to boil (as it always does) and build up pressure, very quickly your container would explode, ripping holes through walls and killing anyone in the immediate vicinity.

[MrFrankyD]

so its theoretically possible to build a container that could hold the pressure of the liquid nitrogen to hold a ( insert of something useful that you want to keep cold) and keep it there? im working on a project that is theoretical at this stage and you have a great deal of chemistry knowledge that i don't have. if i get to the building part(somewhere in the future) im going to definitely get a hold of you.

[NurdRage]

while you can hold the pressure of liquid nitrogen with the right super container, eventually the liquid will warm up to room temperature and attain thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.

So liquid nitrogen cannot be used to cool something indefinetely, you're better off using a refridgerator.

[vmelkon]

@MrFrankyD You can't keep LN2 liquid in a closed container. It would warm up above its critical temperature (I don't know the exact value but perhaps it is -120) above which it is a gas no matter how much pressure you exert on it. I know that CO2 critical point is 31 C. Xenon is 16 C. For oxygen, nitrogen, argon, etc it is very low.

[master5599]

if you take it out of the liquid nitrogen will it go back up

[NurdRage]

ofcourse

[master5599]

sweet, now that i look at the question it's dumb. But thanks for the reply anyway.

[Coby19666]

So how does this work? Because it gets cooled so much the atoms go closer together and the electrons pass throught the wire easier?

[Jiraya12345]

The nuclei are vibrating less, allowing the electrons to flow straight (or, at least, straighter) through the wire, as opposed to in a room temperature wire, where electrons knock into each other and create heat and scattering.

[llamalord111]

They use this same method of superconductivity on the LHC :D

[Bottledcan]

Lanthanides and actinides are superconductive, right? I'm just a sophomore in high school, but I could've sworn I heard my teacher mention it.

[duckythescientist]

I don't think so... I believe he was referring to various manufactured superconductor materials. The lanthanides and the actinides are, I believe, only special in that they are extremely heavy (atomically) and are usually very radioactive. But I too am only a sophomore.

[Bottledcan]

It must have been something about magnetism.

Thanks, anyway!

[Jiraya12345]

The lanthanides are critical elements in type II superconductors, and are found in most superconductors that have critical temperatures significantly above 0 K.

[Bottledcan]

Thank you very much, Jiraya. I knew I had heard it.

[jungleman68]

cmon give us something insane! or something that we can get involved with you guys in. how about it? interacting with subscribers.

[NurdRage]

hehe.

Already so much insane stuff on youtube, both real and fake that competing in the insane arena would surely be epic fail for us. For example we can't possibly afford 500 lbs of explosives like mythbusters or top a fake video on recharging an ipod with an onion.

So we've decided to focus on more conventional science.

but how do you suggest we interact with subscribers?

[jungleman68]

i was thinking asking us to do something on our own and post up videos or something like that

[Hexpigge]

"for god sake" :D... lol! COOL! 5 stars!

[megafeltch]

awesome 5*

[knucklessg1]

holy cow, i didnt even see the liquid nitrogen when it was being poured. (it was magic) jk jk jk. haha

[carl95125]

Where did you get the dewar with the un-silvered walls?

Carl

[NurdRage]

It can be purchased from wilmad labglass as a "freezing point dewar flask".

Very pricey though.

[mike6789k]

are the two leads submerged in the liquid nitrogen? maybe it has some conductive properties itself...

also its 'saw-derd' not 'soul-derd' :D

p.s. i envy your access to hard to get supplies ,whats your secret?

[NurdRage]

"For gawd sakes i'm a doctor, not an engineer" :D

And it's no secret that NurdRage is based out of an advanced research laboratory. We're all employees that in our off-time make these videos.

[10mintwo]

It makes me wonder why we should bother looking into HTc cuprates for long distance power transmission at all. ohmic losses on the power grid are <10% so something that gets rid of ~90% of that would get your overall losses to near 1%

[10mintwo]

.... so who cares about going superconducting to save you that measly 1% more from being lost. maybe that 1% is still too much heat load and would boil off too much LN2 along the power line. hmmmmm.

[Pnutlmclain]

how could you apply this in a project?

love all you vids =)

[NurdRage]

increase the power conversion efficiency of a transformer or a microwave generator by decreasing the electrical resistance through cooling.

[Pnutlmclain]

Thanks for the reply!

[krankiev]

wow 87% i didn't expect that much!

[NurdRage]

yeah, it was an eye opener for me too.

[tvanymesic]

I know that a person could never just put their electronics in liquid nitrogen, but, in a very awesome and futuristic world, if you did this to your cable internet cord, would it make the internet speed faster?

[mike6789k]

LOL

[superheaton]

You can just increase the cross-sectional area of the wire to decrease resistance...instead of constantly applying liquid nitrogen lol.

But uhh.....the speed is more dependent on bandwidth ;)

[marigailtheamazing]

Congratulations on the partnership!

I love watching your videos.

[NurdRage]

Thanks!

[emo5derf]

Just incase anyone was wondering if a coil is actually needed, no it's not needed, but it does make things look tidy.

[NurdRage]

very true :)

[WhereIsNumNum]

you should make a video on how to make and use a tesla coil

[NurdRage]

lots of videos on that already, i don't think we can do better.

[WhereIsNumNum]

well every other videos sucks at explaning it

ive seen every video and i still cant figue out how to make one

[misterflip20]

they use lliquid helium for the same purpose on the LHC in geneva

[Incredibleman007]

Very nice expiriment, keep up the good work.

[petercourt]

This may be a very silly question, but is it the cold lowering the conductivity or is it due to the liquid nitrogen? And why exactly does it lose resistance?

[RazielKain]

Like i posted before you: Look up electronic band structure

in simple terms: Every material gives passing electrons some kind of resistance in form of "obstacles"

normally electrons "bump" into them and generate heat in the process which causes more obstacles to form

If you lower the temperature low enough the structure alignes in a position to provide less obstacles-> less friction-> less resistance

[MrFrankyD]

simply put. When it gets cold it condenses the molecules (basically they are closer in a cold state) so the electricity (the transfer of protons or neutrons from one atom to another) travels faster then when it is at room temp..

[RazielKain]

Electricity are electrons not protons nor neutrons

And it's not a matter of "closer together" or "traveling faster"

[MrFrankyD]

since you know more then me on this can you describe in laymans terms what happens then. sorry that this sounds sarcastic but i usually just jump right to the point .

[RazielKain]

For any of you who want to know how exactly this works need to look into electronic band structure