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Antonio Romero
4/27/2016
Superconductors and Society
Much of our knowledge of technology and science is given to us in the form of a product
on TV, or on the internet when we are spending leisure time on social media. For most of us, we
do not take time to investigate the mechanism behind all of our technology; Why should we? Is it
the job of the engineer? We all have the capacity to be scientists, builders, artists, dancers,
explorers, and leaders, since the moment we were able to learn how to walk and talk. It is
counterproductive to allow technology to know more about us than we know about it. The
technology that will be presented in this essay has the potential to revolutionize electronics and
energy systems all together: Superconductors. What technological and moral impact would
superconductors have on our society?
Superconductivity is a state, not a material, it is the transition from having a finite
amount of resistance to having no resistance to electricity at all. Metals, ceramics, and even
organic material can super conduct if the conditions are right: Chemical structure, chemical
composition, temperature and pressure; superconductivity is an anomaly, there is an absence of
friction in the material--Without friction it would be impossible to have life exist (Mourachkine
2). You will see how Superconductors will help advance areas in the field of medicine,
transportation, and energy. As a result, the human living condition will improve. Some of the
amazing properties of superconductors are zero resistance to electricity and levitation. The
potential for organic electronics are the sought out effect of this technology. The ultimate goal is
to reach room temperature superconductivity, and the only way it will become a reality is by

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informing everyone about this type of material. Once everyone becomes aware of the previous,
superconductors have the potential to be the answer to our energy crisis. All the governments in
the world should fund laboratories and Universities that are doing research on superconducting
materials and the mechanism behind the phenomena. Time and effort should be put into finding a
room-temperature superconductor by not just governments but also by private scientific labs and
engineers all over the world.
Why should anyone care about advancing in research on this exotic state of matter? There
is a reason why this state of matter is given the adjective “super.” We have all taken a course in
chemistry; there are 3 known states of matter: Solid, liquid, and gas. Superconductors and super
fluids are other states of matter, which demonstrate bizarre behavior relative to the classical
states of matter. Super fluids are liquids that exhibit zero viscosity, which means that the super
liquid cannot be held in a cup or other container because it will just pour out through the walls of
the container (Mourachkine 20). Superconductors are solids that lose all of it electrical resistance
at a critical temperature, the symbol used to represent this is Tc. Superconductors can do what
copper cannot: conduct electricity with low, or no loss in power over long distance. This means
that if we replace copper cables with superconducting cables there will be an advance in energy
storage, which in turn allow us to produce electricity more efficiently and decrease repair cost
and maintenance cost. Example: Three High-Temperature [77-110̊ K] superconducting cables,
weighting 250 pounds, will carry 100 megawatts of power, a job that nine copper cables, with a
total weight of 18,000 pounds are doing (Morrison 47). This means that superconducting
technology will be at least 72 times smaller and more compact than technology that uses
conventional conductors to transports electricity. If more research is done to find a room

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temperature superconductor the efficiency to size ratio will increase dramatically. This could
mean that superconductors will replace copper in computers and other electronics in order to
reduce to the size of the product and also increase its performance.
The Meissner effect is the name given to the observable effect of circling currents on the
surface of the superconducting material. In 1933, the property of perfect diamagnetism in
superconductors was discovered by W. Meissner and R. Ochsenfeld in Berlin (Mourachkine 3).
Perfect diamagnetism is the event that occurs when a material is penetrated by magnetic field
line, in response the material generates its own magnetic field equal in magnitude but opposite in
direction. The mechanism behind the Meissner effect is due to supercurrent circulation on the
surface of the superconductor (Mourachkine 42). The circulation of the current on the surface
traps the magnetic flux, which pins the magnet in place. For years’ people imagined that one day
there would be flying cars or floating cities in the sky, this does not seem to be only science
fiction but can be a reality. Since the primary characteristic of superconductors is perfect
diamagnetism, levitating trains can replace conventional rail track trains. Magnetic roads will
replace concreate roads, and the superconducting engine will replace the old combustion engine.
We will be able to see floating cars travel through the cities. This why there needs to be more
focus on superconductors: to create clean environmentally safe transportation.
So far we know that superconductivity is known to occur in metals, ceramics, and alloys.
Superconductivity also occurs in organic material, living matter, but how? It turns out that
organic material uses the mechanism of electron pairing to get rid of the electron spin, while in
inorganic material cooper pairs are an anomaly, it is preferred for electrons to pair up and make
cooper pairs to cancel out the spin (Mourahkine 14). In a cooper pair the electrons, also known

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as fermions, combined together to make a boson, this means that the coupled pair have the
charge of two electrons and a spin momentum of zero. With no spin, the boson can travel from
molecule to molecule in a complex hydrocarbon such as ethene (C2H4). The difference between
organic and inorganic superconductors is that in the organic material superconductivity is
localized in the substance, only the hydrocarbons with an even number of carbon atoms can
exhibit the effect. When the state is localized in the organic material the outer most electrons of
the molecule are able to move freely from one molecule to another (Mourahkine 15). This means
that organic material has the potential to be applied to electronics, small localized regions of the
organic material will super conduct electricity. The benefit of organic superconductors is that
engineers can use material that are not toxic to the environment or humans. There is still more
need of research of superconductivity in organic materials, this is why there should be more
attention on superconductivity research and materials: to conserve the rare-earth metals and
make eco-friendly technology from organic superconductors.
Superconducting materials have amazing properties, they can hold electrical current
without showing loss in electric current over time (as long as they are in the superconducting
state), zero resistivity. If there is a small enough magnetic field applied to the superconducting
material there appears to be a flux pinning, which allows the magnet and the superconductor to
be strongly pin together: magnetic levitation. They have the potential to become bio-Friendly
electronic technology. How would superconductivity be implemented into our lives in order to
help with certain problems that we face? There are many fields that would be benefited by this
technology such as the medical field, transportation, and energy, and they also can help

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during natural or man-made disasters. Currently, the medical field is using superconductors in
MRI machines (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) like the MRI machine that the Canadian Science
and Technology Museum obtained from the Montreal Neurological Institute in Montreal,
Quebec. The main component in an MRI is a Nb-Ti (Niobium-Titanium) wire for the large
superconducting coil--the alloy is a type-II superconductor—which is used as a very strong
magnet. The super magnet magnetizes the hydrogen nuclei in the water molecules of your body,
aligning the direction of the magnetic field in the hydrogen nuclei parallel to the magnetic field
of the superconductor. Then pulses of radio waves disturbs the alignment of the hydrogens
magnetic field: the base of the magnetic resonance; this resonance is then imaged with a
computer (Pantalony E762). This is only the beginning for superconducting technology. If more
research on superconductivity is done, then we can find superconductive materials with higher
critical temperature in order to make cheaper MRI machines, and help advance knowledge in the
medical field.
The most sought out effect of superconductors is the amazing flux pinning, also known as
the Messiner effect. Magnets levitate on top of a superconducting alloys, type-II superconductors
with low critical temperature, which allows for frictionless contact. There has been testing of
magnetic-levitation (MAGLEV) trains by a Japanese Railway Technical Research Institute along
with the Ministry of Transport funding. These tests have shown that magnetic levitating trains
have a speed up to 310.7 mi/h (Haway 299). The performance of these superconducting trains
are great, better than high-speed trains, but the set back is the cost of highway construction,
permissions, and the cost of the cryogenic systems—use of liquid helium is needed to cool the
alloy to a superconducting state—outweighing the benefits at the moment. As I mentioned

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before, more research needs to be done to manipulate material structure and chemical
composition in order to discovery a material that can super conduct at room-temperature. This
will allow for magnetic-levitation trains to be produced at a lower cost because no cryogenic
system will not be needed.
At the moment in our human history we are faced with the dilemma of excessive
production of products, we end up having too much waste from the production. CO2 emission
from fuel burning devices, tarnish our quality of life for every human being. If superconductors
are implemented into technology, this can mean that there will be a reduction in CO2 emission in
the atmosphere. By adopting superconductors into our technology it will allow for the
development of super generators and super motors, which do not release any kind of waste. They
are super because they are requiring less power to keep the motor and generator running. 80% of
all the United States electricity is generated with fossil fuels; so if superconductors are used in
our motors and generators this can mean that we can reduce over 36.7 x108 metric tons of CO2
emission per year (Haway 299). Getting rid of technologies that rely on fossil fuel and replacing
them with superconductors in electronics and power systems will reduce the harm that
conventional systems have caused to the environment. This technology cannot be fully
implemented until a room temperature superconductor is realized.
How would this technology affect our relationships with other people? Could this kind of
technology make us more dependent on our mechanical and electrical devices? Nicholas Carr
has reason to believe that technology already has limited our capacity to keep focus. This is
because we rely on computers to do the tasks that we deem time consuming and repetitive, but
the disadvantage is that we become disengaged from our task or goal (Carr 2013). Having

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superconductive technology will mean that computers will increase exponentially in information
processing. Supercomputers will have the processing power similar to human beings, this can be
deduced from the fact that our central nervous system is an organic superconductor;
Supercomputer in theory can compete with human intellect. Can we be replaced with machines?
The fact of the matter is nothing can replace human decision making, because machines with
data-processing capacities similar to humans can never know emotions. When we operate a
heavy machine or electrical equipment we do so with the aid of computer software, but the thing
that the software can never understand is experience. We are humans because of our emotions
and experience in the material world. Nonetheless, our relationships will change as a result of the
implementation of superconductive technology.
Carr is right that technology has a choke on our attention span, but the difference is that
our society has not experience a technological revolution like the one superconductive materials
will establish once they become incorporated into our technology. All nations will be able to
fight famine and combat disease with the help of superconductors. Everyone will have the luxury
of having electricity, because the reduction in cost of distribution will be a result of the use of
superconducting cables. Making it easier for famers to obtain the materials needed without the
worry of electrical consumption cost.
As a result, of the use of superconductors, we will have a better appreciation of the world
around us. This technology will allow us to look for more profound meaning in life. We will
notice how our quest for money and success has tainted our perception of human relationships in
a negative way. Superconductors will eliminate our need to work for money because we will
have realized that electrical power can be obtained easier by using materials that do not consume

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other material to produce power. Just like the natural phenomena of cooper pairs, where two
negatively charged particles come together in cooperation to become more a super particle; we
must follow nature and do the same, come together in cooperation in order to move through our
lives and problems easily.
If a serious approach to doing superconducting research and application, by all nations, a
great deal of benefits will come from a room temperature superconductor; they will boost
efficiency in electrical storage, with no emissions and heating. Room temperature
superconductors is the solution to our growing energy consumption. The ethics and morals of the
world will change; everyone will see that we do not have to live to work and eat, we work and
eat to live. The latter epiphany will be realized because superconductivity will allow doctors to
view a three dimensional cross sectional of the inside of the patient to determine the true causes
of illness and diseases. Transportation will experience the era of levitating trains and cars,
making the cost of travel decrease dramatically. Superconductors having amazing properties, the
main one is zero electrical resistance; large amounts of electricity can pass through a
superconducting material and not lose power. This means that solar panels, wind turbines and
electrical generators in dams will be able to transfer maximum electrical energy to your house or
apartment, without the generator heating up and potentially blowing up or short circuiting. These
are the reasons why it is crucial that more studies and work should be done to engineer an
ordinary temperature superconductor. Whomever discovers and engineers a room temperature
superconductor, as well as intently apply it to make technology will be on their path to starting a
company that will be worth $122 billion by 2020 (Morrison 50).

9. Works Cited Page
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Morrison, Gale. “Superconductors Power Up.” Mechanical Engineering 121.1 (Jan 1999):
46-50. Web. 27 Apr. 2016
Mourachkine, Andrei. “Room-Temperature Superconductivity.” Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge International Science Publishing, 2004. Print.
Pantalony, David, PhD. “The cost of living: tracing the supply chain for superconductors
in MRI machines.” Canadian Medical Association. Journal 183.11 (2011): E762-E764.
Web. 1 May 2016.

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Morrison, Gale. “Superconductors Power Up.” Mechanical Engineering 121.1 (1999):
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Mourachkine, Andrei. “Room-Temperature Superconductivity.” Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge International Science Publishing, 2004. Print.
Pantalony, David, PhD. “The cost of living: tracing the supply chain for superconductors
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Web. 1 May 2016.
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