Can I charge a superconductor and continuously siphon electricity from it ?

I'm having trouble understanding this one, because I have been told that a superconductor is equivalent to a metal with no resistance, i.e. that current passes without voltage drop. To charge something one uses the property of capacitance, which is related to its size and the dielectric material between the surfaces, and I can't see how the two inter-relate. Then, I'm only a British agent disgeesed as a French polooceman.

So did you ever succeed in rescuing the 2 airmen and sending them home to Britain, or did Michelle and her merry-men keep messing things up good?

She only told me once and I'm afraid I wasn't listening very carefully.

A perfect super conducting wire is theoretically loss-less. If you were to connect one end to another you could, in theory, send a signal down the wire that will loop endlessly.

However, what you propose is really just charging a super conducting wire with a charge. Yes, you could withdraw that charge at a latter time just like cash from a bank. But you are limited to the amount you put into the bank. You can't get a loan in this case. You only get what you put in. No free rides.

A better piggy bank would be a super cap. They are capacitors that can be charged up with a large amount of coulombs and discharged later. A super cap will bank more of a charge than a simple super conducting wire when you consider the effort you need to keep the super conductor cool.

Super caps are targeted for all kinds of applications where a battery is not ideal. One application is to use them as a power source for electric cars. They have a very high discharge rate and can be charged much faster than a battery can.

A super cap. Hmm..... I need to check that out ! thanks again

I think you're getting the nature of a superconductors somewhat confused. If you chilled, say, lead down to 3° Kelvin, the lead becomes superconducting. However, all that really means is that if you place a current across the lead, it will pass with little or no resistance.

You cannot get electrons to just flow out of the superconductor without completing the circuit. In this respect, it acts like any other material. And has no relevence to super-conduction.

You have the correct complicated answers already.

The simple answer is "No". At least not in the manner you are thinking about....

Remember, in such situations, even with a really high efficiency, you still get slightly less out than you put in!!!

I believe fusion (when perfected in about 25 years) may do what you are trying to do here.....sort of anyway.....something for nothing.

'Stirling Stan' summed up the Laws of Thermodynamics in another thread thus:

• You can only lose.
• You can't even draw.
• This is the only game in town.

Hi Andy,

You said "I believe fusion (when perfected in about 25 years) may do what you are trying to do here.....sort of anyway.....something for nothing".

Do you really think that'll get us something for nothing?

Crabtree (#7) and Bill (#9) disagree. I too, doubt we'll get something for free. Would be nice though...

-John

Just that for fuel, anything will do.......for example rubbish for example that is just being buried at this moment in many countries....it will be easier to throw it in the fusion furnace, rather than making landfills.....

....isn't that almost for free?

Probably, but in defense of landfills, some areas are using the methane gas produced by them.

That is perfectly true and a better use at this time has not been found.

Fusion is around 25 years in the future, with no guarantees of that date either....

Lets continue to go with what works at this time, we can always dig up the landfills in 25 years, they will still be there!! just most of the organic material will be gone....

In Germany now, all organic materials are collected in a separate container and converted into free compost!! What a lot of Gardner's have been doing for years anyway, but in Germany we have a larger percentage of apartments with no garden and no use for the peelings!!

I just caught the tail end of a program on Discovery channel about renewable energy.

Looks like our best bets for "free" energy are wave power, wind power and solar power. Apparently there's a sizeable wave farm off the coast of the U.K. that's producing quite a bit of power. The program pointed out the huge solar potential that the Sahara desert could provide. Wind power can be a little finicky I guess, depending on the area where you put your windmills. Wave energy and Sahara solar energy are almost guaranteed to be more or less constant.

Your thoughts?

-John

Please do not forget the point that ultimately on this earth, ALL energy is either coming from the Sun or came from the Sun......no matter whether its wind, solar, gas oil or whatever......

Even if Physics would allow us to get something for nothing, you can be sure that no government would.

I believe fusion (when perfected in about 25 years) may do what you are trying to do here.....sort of anyway.....something for nothing.

I've heard it said that fusion is the power source of the future ... and always will be.

I hope that's not true.

A superconductor wouldn't be any better than any other conductor for storing charge. On the other hand, you could store an electrical current where the energy is stored in a magnetic field as opposed to an electric field. But basically, you are storing energy to use later, and there are probably other cheaper ways to store energy.

can you elaborate on this ?

you could store an electrical current where the energy is stored in a magnetic field as opposed to an electric field

I recall reading a short story a long time ago (30 years???) about somebody who had the opportunity to work for something to eat but didn't. The end of the story had this word: TANSTAAFL, printed at the bottom of the page.

TANSTAAFL is nothing more than an acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."

Entrophy is always increasing . . .

Even vacuum-packed, frozen, baby-back ribs eventually go bad.

Even if your bucket don't have a hole in it, the water will disappear somehow anyway.

I also think you're kinda mixin' up how energy can be stored, to give an answer to your question, "Is it theoretically possible?"

Has anyone tried charging two large superconductive materials and observed it's effect on their magnetic fields ? Any helpful websites you may know about superconductive research ? I have a terrible fascination with them and I don't know enough about the subject yet. I appreciate any help, thanks.

Almost all modern particle accelerators use superconducting magnets. It's the only way to get a field of the needed strength. The windings are supercooled using liquid helium.

If I had a set of these superconductor magnets, and I manipulated the magnetic fields associated with them, I could cause them to react with each other correct ?

I am trying to figure out if utilizing these superconductor magnets in an array could change the specific gravity of an object overall, and if it was in motion, changing it could cause the object to slow down ?????

....er, no.....! Or should I say, not in a noticable way.......

Perhaps you should try using them as ear rings, it may help!!!

Typical superconducting magnets are wound like you would an electromagnet - the field is greatest within the center of the tube made by the windings. Of course, other winding configurations are possible if you can afford the materials (including liquid helium).

If you want to mess with magnets and see some of the really odd magnetic effects that you usually can only read about in science books, I suggest you buy a few neodybnium magnets. There are large ones on the market for fairly cheap prices. And the bang for the buck is assume! Have you ever seen aluminum become affected in a magnetic field? Can you think of dropping a magnet down a copper pipe and watch it float to the bottom rather than fall?

That's the kind of stuff you can do with these magnets because they're so damn powerful. I have two 3½ inch magnets - each with a pull of 1,100 lbs!!! When I put aluminum up to one, the aluminum squirms all over the place. All these effects are visible simple because the magnetic fields of these things (that you can hold in your hand) are so damn intense!!! I recommend getting a couple of these if you want to experiment with insane levels of magnetism.

OK, here comes the warning - This is the magnetic equivalent to high voltage! These magnets are beasts!!! Within 20 feet of your TV, they'll affect the picture tube. When it says 1,100 lbs of pull, they mean it. If you get your hand between the magnet and a piece of steel, you're going to be in a world of hurt. If you get your hand between two of these, it's literally going to take some 2,000 lbs of pull to get them apart so you can retrieve what's left of your hand. And if two magnets fly together, they'll basically explode, sending out sparks and lots of shrapnel. SO WATCH IT!!!

Hey vermin, where can I procure a couple of these beasts? How much?

They sound awesome!

Hey, Johnjohn! Go to eBay and search on neodymium magnets. You'll find several stores that sell them. They come in cubes, balls, cylinders, and even donuts.

Just remember, even the small ones are so powerful that they bite! I lost a couple of good sized hunks of skin from messing with these things. Like a 1" cube has about 100 lbs of pull. Also, I have two five hundred pounders that slammed together - I never did get them apart!!! My 1,100 pounders I keep in totally separate rooms. And I ain't kidding that if you have one of these large ones in your hand and you walk past the kitchen cutting knife, these will pull the knife right up and shoot it straight for your hand!

Anyway, let me know what you come up with.

Wonder how many quarks were scattered when those two collided? So now you have a half-a-ton magnet! From what you say, I think I'd be a little bit scared of that beast too.

Why don't you bury it in your yard and sell tickets to the public. "Strange gravitational anomaly appears in California man's yard".

Thanx for the info.

oh sh*t. does your wife know about this?

Vermin, you are right about the neodyminum mags. I have been messing with small ones for almost a year, and they shatter on impact occasionally. I stay away from the large ones !

I use speakers powered by them now, they have twice the power, and half the weight, which is helpful when you lug them around a lot.

I get them from k&j magnetics, although there are other sites. go to [http://www.kjmagnetics.com/]

Yep, they're crazy strong, aren't they. The Japanese have the patent on the whole neodymium magnet thing. Interesting, too, is that all these little head phones with great sound you see hanging off people's IPods, could have only come about because of these magnets.

never thought about that.... makes perfect sense...

Yeah, but can they do this ?

That's pretty good! You can, however, drop one of these magnets into a copper pipe, and it will create "eddy currents" in the copper that will react to the magnet and keep it from falling. That's kind of a cool trick, too.

Also, I really suggest you buy a couple of the magnets - say, a two inch cylinder. They're not that expensive and it's worth it to (CAREFULLY) walk around your home and test it on things. You'll see stuff that'll blow you away!

Thanks. I think that a sales position for stuff like this could pay a fortune. I would buy every quirky bizarre and amazing whats-it that they put in front of me

ANONYMOUS HERO.. i'd like to know where i can get me one of these 'supercaps' ...mine is just about worn thro'...the stitchings showing and it dont look as gud as like wot it used to....no really where can i read up on this topic furtherer..

les

Sorry can no do what you are asking for is just another perpetual motion gadget. Withdrawing energy from anything will impart some form of load and no mater the perfection of the system conditions the energy stored is finite. Better to call for GOGO Gadget he might just have the trick.