Liquid Nitrogen Experiments: The Superconductor

[TheFindip]

@jeffersonLab thanks

[TheFindip]

@jeffersonlabs why does it spin so much when you put the magnet on

[JeffersonLab]

@TheFindip There's very little friction to stop the magnet from spinning once it's set in motion.

[Dukey8668]

In a science museum about 200 kilometres  from where I live they have suspended a magnet by putting it between an electromagnet and another magnet(I'm not sure which type). You probably guessed that it floats, and spins, the only thing stopping it from spinning is the air resistance

[11kungfu11]

rare-earth magnet motors and furrofluid accellorators exist. you dont need to "put in" to "get out" you can just use things with eachother so move around.

[JeffersonLab]

@11kungfu11 Of course you need to "put in" to "get out." Energy is conserved. There's no free lunch.

[11kungfu11]

@JeffersonLab By "put in" I meant as a fuel. just like there is allways a magnetic field Around earth and our planet is vibrating and if you know about harmonics witch I think you would. You can stimulate fluid and if you do it right you can keep a drop from stabilizing with the body of water its on and if you study the motion of the fluid and say contain that "drop" and make the "fluid" a ferrofluid. contain the whole assembly with a rare eath magetdome with gold discharge wires.

[JeffersonLab]

@11kungfu11 "You can stimulate fluid" = putting energy in.

[thmnj]

Seems like u can harvest that for energy in a way but then again I'm not much of a science person, but yeah if it is possible to harvest energy from it that would be incredible but then again what is the price tag for liquid nitrogen.

[JeffersonLab]

@thmnj You can only harvest the energy that you put into it. There's no free lunch, unfortunately.

[thmnj]

@JeffersonLab that's true to, i remember that in class energy can't be made or destroyed. it's either passive or something else. can't remember the name of that type of energy but yeah, the energy u put in is the energy u get back. or so i was told by my teacher.

[robertjamieson421]

The floating magnet must be pretty close to perpetual right?

[JeffersonLab]

@robertjamieson421 Friction with the air is the main thing that makes it stop.

[CockroachDoesntDie]

Is it possible to stick a card or something under it while it floats?

[JeffersonLab]

@CockroachDoesntDie Yes. The magnetic field would easily pass though a card.

[razerburst]

@JeffersonLab What do you mean "easily"? Does that mean a magnetic field can be stopped? Or to be specific, make it so it can't pass really easily?

[JeffersonLab]

@razerburst Magnetic permeability is different for different materials. Mu-metal, an alloy of nickel, iron, copper and chromium, is especially good for shielding magnetic fields.

[razerburst]

@JeffersonLab So it's possible to make forcefields?

[JeffersonLab]

@razerburst Well, you can do magnetic confinement of charged particles. Not quite the same thing as a general 'force field' you see in SciFi.

[rpblcan]

is there any friction?

[JeffersonLab]

@rpblcan Not really. There's some air resistance. There may also be eddy currents induced in the magnet due to it 'seeing' a change of magnetic flux as it rotates within the field produced by the superconductor. The magnet does eventually stop spinning, but I'm not sure which is the predominant effect.

[VulpesFidelis]

Aww, I want a spinny magnet. =^.^=

[VulpesFidelis]

Are MagLev trains based on superconducting magnets?

[JeffersonLab]

@VulpesFidelis They can be, but I don't think any of the currently operating commercial maglev systems use superconductive magnets.

[PivotAnimator50]

@TruVlog LOLOL the idea of hovercars died in third grade for me

[razerburst]

@PivotAnimator50 There are already hovercars.

[johnken0]

Magnet clothing + Superconductor + liquid nitrogen = 0 gravity or not......

[JeffersonLab]

@johnken0 Not, for the same reason why you don't experience zero-g while riding in a hot air balloon, for example.

[music47jazz]

Why are some items superconductive?

[JeffersonLab]

@music47jazz Well... I can't really give a complete description in the 500 characters we have available in the comments. Your best bet is to do some reading on your own. Start by searching for 'cooper pair' and 'BCS theory.' That'll get you started.

[livenlearnify]

where can you get a superconducter?



[JeffersonLab]

@livenlearnify Lots of science catalog companies sell superconductors. We bought ours from Edmund Scientific years and years ago, but lots of other place sell it.

[Kiddolioable]

I wonder what happens if you attach alot of magnet to your body and have a bigger version of the black thing get cold, i wonder if you float xD

[JeffersonLab]

@Kiddolioable Sure. A strong enough magnetic field would allow you to float, ss long as the magnetic field isn't so high that it forces the superconductor out of the superconductive regime.

[Kiddolioable]

@JeffersonLab Awesome!

[djmoindahouse]

isn't this thing being implemented in the future for a certain technology?

[JeffersonLab]

@djmoindahouse Superconductors? They are being used right now in certain technologies.

[Almontmarine]

Joanna is left-handed right?

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Correct.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab but Steve is right-handed, i know that in the video about the decaying caesium 137 video... when he tabulates the data.

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Also correct.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab I'm also left-handed.

[Almontmarine]

what do u think will happen when you pour liquid nitrogen on your hand (to Steve)?

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine If I pour a little on it, nothing much will happen. I'm so hot relative to it that the liquid nitrogen would immediately boil and a layer of gas would form between me and it. The heat capacity of the gas is much lower than that of the liquid, so it's far less efficient at cooling me down. The formal name for this is the Leidenfrost Effect. Keep pouring liquid nitrogen and this effect eventually breaks down. Then, real trouble begins.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab i dare you (Steve) to demonstrate this. haha.

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Well, the thing is, this isn't our (Joanna and Steve's) personal channel. It's part of our Lab's public outreach efforts. As such, we have a responsibility to be... responsible. Doing that sort of thing could be seen by some as an endorsement to do it. And then, if they try it and something happens to them, the Lab gets the blame and we'd have all kinds of fun meetings with Lab management, the last probably being an exit interview.

[Almontmarine]

copper's resistance is 48.5 ohms, but when cooled to -196 deg Celsius, its resistance becomes 6.1 ohms only!!!

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Keep in mind that this is for a particular piece of copper with a particular geometry. Resistance isn't a property like density. It depends on how the copper is shaped. That's why the resistance per foot of a copper wire changes as the gauge of the wire changes.

[GalTheJebac]

i have a question

if you place 2 magnets almost togheter and put a spacer between them will the magnet pull the other magnet so it will move on itself?

please answer

[JeffersonLab]

@GalTheJebac The magnets will not move because of the third law of motion, the one dealing with equal but opposite forces. Although one magnet is being pulled to the right, the other magnet is being pulled to the left by an equal amount. The forces are equal in size but oppositely directed so, overall, there is no net force on the magnets to make them go one way or the other.

[GalTheJebac]

@JeffersonLab thanks man,great explanation im going to subscribe to you.

[chandlerbeckhoff]

u guys are in VA right? where do u get your liquid nitrogen from?

[JeffersonLab]

@chandlerbeckhoff Yes, we are in Virginia. I believe our current liquid nitrogen vendor is Air Products. We change every so often, so I could be wrong.

[craptaco1]

Ehh, I'd Like To See A Large Scale Version Of This

[MegaManNetwork]

@craptaco1 Hover Shoes, anyone?

[isaac12191]

im learning!!!

[xecoq]

lol im dutch haha HOLLAND

can it be pushed down ?

[JeffersonLab]

Yes, it can be pushed down, but it will pop back up when you let it go.

[102938475653]

I would love to have the job that they have. I'd love to try break apart subatomic particles. Do they do work with the accelerators. Very nice experiment.

Thanks for making these and putting them on youtube.

[Thrax005]

Now that's a scientific experiment, that is how science can be fascinating, that was utterly cool. PLEASE keep making videos about these superconductor & superfluid stuff.

[jagexownage]

Oh! so that's how Criss angles levitates

[DrBPhD]

Meissner effect.

[sugarfreelemonade]

coooooooooooool

[dlcu38]

That's a fantastic video! Thankyou!

[mvigneshwar100]

i'm in india.....where can i get it in india?

[JeffersonLab]

I've never been to India, so I don't really know. You can try Googling 'buy superconductor' and see what pops up.

[mvigneshwar100]

oh which country u r?

[JeffersonLab]

United States.

[mvigneshwar100]

how much it will cost......

[JeffersonLab]

Edmund Scientific is selling a kit (superconductor, magnet and tweezers) for $50. You can probably do better than that, though.

[mvigneshwar100]

i need a superconductor where can i get it.....?

[JeffersonLab]

They aren't that hard to find. Ours came from Edmund Scientific, but tons of other companies carry them, too.

[DrBPhD]

What for? Can you cool it enough to reach the superconducting state?

[GravWave]

Verry impressive!

[UglyNL]

thats coooool xD

[bobby1829387]

How long does liquid nitrogen stay cold for after it's been poured out of a container?

[JeffersonLab]

If it gets poured on the floor, it'll be gone in a few seconds. If it gets poured into something like a styrofoam cup, it'll last for 10 minutes or so.

[bobby1829387]

oh ok  thanks :)

[btsax2]

that was awesome.

[Ek0shi]

Jeez, your labs sound very impressive.

[tutorialconr]

w00tage for the flying magnet!

[abhay108]

does the element neodynium align its domains to be ferromagnetic, or is it another process?

[JeffersonLab]

Yes, the neodymium magnet is ferromagnetic.

[magic101magic]

2 things could i do this with dry ice instead of liquid nitrogen i can get dry ice but i dont know where i can get liquid nitrogen. also where coul i get the superconducters

[JeffersonLab]

No, dry ice won't work. It isn't cold enough. When these superconductors were first developed (in the mid 1980's, I think) there was great excitement in the physics community because they 'only' needed liquid nitrogen to make them work and not liquid helium. Dry ice, while cold, is much too hot to make these things work.

You can get them from many science supply stores. Edmund Scientific is one place among many that carries them.

[PsychoSimmy]

Wow , nice. if you were to touch the cold stuff would you get hurt? (sorry i dont remember the name and im young...like 13.)

[JeffersonLab]

Yes, the liquid nitrogen would hurt you if it touched you for long enough. That's why Joanna and Steve wear gloves and goggles. They don't want to be hurt by the liquid nitrogen by accident.

[JeffersonLab]

I don't exactly remember... that particular disk is better than a decade old. They aren't too hard to find in science supply catalogs, like Edmund's.

[cajarapida]

Where did you get the Superconductor?

[JeffersonLab]

That's called 'flux pinning.' We have never observed it in our particular sample.

[theloyalblood]

I remember that if u pick the magnet up, the super conductor also goes up with it but never touching it,