Superconductors Essay

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The relatively new discovery of superconductors has the potential to become a revolutionary discovery that will have major impacts on key fields of society. Superconductors are formed when substances are cooled to extremely low temperatures, at which point electrons are able to flow freely without friction. Without friction, the loss of energy through the material is nonexistent. Because of this property, electric current will have the ability to flow forever in a loop of superconducting substance. However, the temperature at which superconductivity is achieved is very difficult to reach, without spending excess amounts of energy. The point at which superconductivity is reached is called superconducting transition temperature; these temperatures are very low making it hard to reach. One unforeseen discovery was that ceramics were able to reach superconductivity at substantially higher temperatures than metals. Originally discovered by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Muller, ceramics obtained high-temperature superconductivity, with the highest recorded temperature at 138 K, a temperature tha...

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