Briefly describe the Meissner effect.

Short Answer

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Answer: The Meissner effect is a phenomenon that occurs in superconductors when they are cooled below their critical temperature, causing them to expel all magnetic fields from their interior and maintain a zero internal magnetic field. This effect is significant because it is a unique property of superconductors and plays a crucial role in various applications, such as magnetic levitation trains and MRI machines, which rely on the repulsive force between a superconductor and a magnetic field.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Superconductors

A superconductor is a material that exhibits zero electrical resistance when cooled below a certain critical temperature. This allows an electrical current to flow through the material without any energy loss, making superconductors extremely important for various applications.
02

Introducing the Meissner Effect

The Meissner effect is a phenomenon that occurs in superconductors when they are cooled below their critical temperature. During this transition, the superconductor expels all magnetic fields from its interior to maintain a zero internal magnetic field.
03

Understanding the Expulsion of Magnetic Fields

The expulsion of magnetic fields in the Meissner effect is explained by the fact that superconductors can conduct electric currents without resistance. When an external magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, currents are induced on the surface of the material that generate an opposite magnetic field. This opposite magnetic field effectively cancels out the external field within the superconductor, resulting in a zero internal magnetic field.
04

Explaining the Significance of the Meissner Effect

The Meissner effect is significant not only because it is a unique property of superconductors, but also because it is the key to many superconductive applications. This effect enables the construction of devices such as magnetic levitation (maglev) trains, which exploit the repulsive force created between a superconductor and a magnetic field to levitate objects, and MRI machines that use the strong magnetic fields generated by superconducting coils for imaging purposes.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

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It is possible to express the magnetic susceptibility \(\chi_{m}\) in several different units. For the discussion of this chapter, \(\chi_{m}\) was used to designate the volume susceptibility in SI units, that is, the quantity that gives the magnetization per unit volume \(\left(\mathrm{m}^{3}\right)\) of material when multiplied by \(H\). The mass susceptibility \(\chi_{m}(\mathrm{~kg})\) yields the magnetic moment (or magnetization) per kilogram of material when multiplied by \(H ;\) similarly, the atomic susceptibility \(\chi_{m}\) (a) gives the magnetization per kilogram-mole. The latter two quantities are related to \(\chi_{m}\) through the relationships $$ \begin{aligned} &\chi_{m}=\chi_{m}(\mathrm{~kg}) \times \text { mass density (in } \mathrm{kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3} \text { ) } \\ &\left.\chi_{m}(\mathrm{a})=\chi_{m}(\mathrm{~kg}) \times \text { atomic weight (in } \mathrm{kg}\right) \end{aligned} $$ When using the cgs-emu system, comparable parameters exist, which may be designated by \(\chi_{m}^{\prime}, \chi_{m}^{\prime}(\mathrm{g})\), and \(\chi_{m}^{\prime}(\mathrm{a})\); the \(\chi_{m}\) and \(\chi_{m}^{\prime}\) are related in accordance with Table 20.1. From Table \(20.2, \chi_{m}\) for silver is \(-2.38 \times 10^{-5}\); convert this value into the other five susceptibilities

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