Physicists Achieve a Milestone: Superconductors
Physicists Achieve a Milestone: Superconductors
Aili Shaw
On October 14th, 2020, physicists in New York (led by Ranga Dias from the University of Rochester) discovered a material that conducts electricity perfectly--at room temperature. That material is a mix of hydrogen, carbon, and sulfur.
But first of all, what are conductors? Electrical conductors are materials that allow electricity to pass through them. Say you have a fork and an outlet. If you stick the fork in the outlet, you will get electrocuted. The electricity travels from the outlet, through the fork-because it’s a conductor-to your hand. But as the electricity moves through the conductor, the electrons slow down. That’s why transformers are needed in power lines to keep the electricity going. However, in superconductors, the electrons never slow down. Superconductors can be used for Magnetic Levitation (maglev) trains, also known as bullet trains. A superconductor repels a magnetic field, allowing the train to float above the superconductor.
The downside to superconductors, though, is the fact that they need to be extremely cold to work. That’s because they are made of a certain material that allows electricity to flow through it easier when it’s colder. The “conductor” part of “superconductor” wouldn’t work without it being cold. So we probably won’t be able to use new technologies with superconductors. However… The compound that was discovered is a superconductor that works at up to 59° F (15° C). The reason this is such a big deal is because the previous record was at -9.5° F (-23° C). This is a huge milestone for physicists. Unfortunately (again), the new compound has to be crushed between two diamonds at pressures roughly 75% as extreme as those found at the Earth’s core.
So, while we won’t find superconductors in maglev trains, have high-speed power, or superconductivity powerlines, this is still a big achievement in the physics world.
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