| Author: | Stefano |
|---|---|
| category: | Magnetism |
Recently, I had the chance to see a presentation of cool scientific magic: the Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect.
.. youtube:: gtnsl1JDm-E :align: center :width: 600
What you can see here is a magnet (the yellow-red cylinder) levitating above a small dish of superconductive material, and consequently free to spin in mid-air. The superconductor must be kept at liquid nitrogen temperature (-196 degrees C) to provide this effect, a limitation that is slowly being removed by research on high-temperature superconductivity. Due to its complete diamagnetism, the superconductor completely expels the magnetic field, and pins the magnetic flux lines around it. I'm not familiar at all with the physics involved in this phenomenon, but I believe it has one of the strongest "Oooh" factors ever in terms of popular scientific dissemination. For this reason, I chose this to be my first YouTube video.