INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

MT-202 Electrical And Electronic Materials

Tutorial Sheet 6

Q.1 What is superconductivity? Give examples of superconducting elements and

compounds
Q.2 What are the salient features of superconductors? Why do they not obey Ohms law
below the critical temperatures?
Q.3 Explain the effect of critical magnetic fields, critical current and isotopic mass on critical
temperature of a superconducting material.
Q.4 Differentiate between soft superconductors and hard superconductors.
Q.5 Bring out the differences between following
i. Silsbee effect and Meissner effect.
ii. LTS and HTS
iii. Londons theory and GLAG theory
Q.6 Prove that susceptibility of a superconductor is -1 and relative permeability is zero.
Q.7 Calculate the critical current which can pass through a long thin superconducting wire
of aluminium of diameter 1mm. The critical magnetic field for Al is 7.9x10^3 A/m.
Q.8 An infinitely long superconducting lead (Pb) rod of circular cross-section is subjected to
an uniform external magnetic field perpendicular to its axis. Calculate (a) Electron
density , (b) Critical current density, and (c) Depth of penetration at the
superconductors surface. For lead, the specific density is 11.4, atomic weight is 207.2
Kg/Kg-mole, & the velocity of sound in it is 1200 m/s.
Q.9 Suppose that we have a superconducting solenoid that is 10cm in diameter and 1m in
length and turns of Nb3Sn wire, whose critical field at 4.2K (liquid He temperature) is
about 20T and critical current density Jc is 3x10^6 A/cm2. What is the current necessary
to set up a field of 5T at the centre of a solenoid? What is the approximate energy
stored in the solenoid? Assume that the critical current density decreases linearly with
the applied field. Further assume also that the field across diameter of the solenoid is
approximately uniform field at the windings is same as that at the centre.
Q,10 Consider two superconductivity wires, tin (Type 1) and Nb3Sn (Type 2), each 1mm in
thickness. The magnetic field on the surface of a current carrying conductor given by
B=I/2r.
a. Assuming that Sn wire loses its superconductivity when the field at the surface reaches
the critical field (0.2T), calculate the maximum current hence the critical current density
that can be passed through the Sn wire near absolute zero of temperature.
b. Calculate the maximum current and critical current density for the Nb3Sn wire using the
same assumption as in part (a) but taking the critical field to be the upper critical field,
which is 24.5T at 0K. How does your calculation of J, compare with the critical density of
about 1011 Am-2 for Nb3Sn at 0K?