Activity

Meissner effect – Nick Strickland video clips

In this activity, students watch video clips of IRL research scientist Dr Nick Strickland talking about superconductivity and the Meissner effect and then answer a series of questions and solve some simple electrical problems related to the content.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • describe the Meissner effect

  • explain in simple terms how the Meissner effect comes about

  • give meanings for the terms ‘electrical resistance’, ‘electric current’, ‘voltage’ and ‘magnetic field

  • state some of the uses the Meissner effect has been put to.

Meissner effect

Dr Nick Strickland, a research scientist working in the field of superconductivity at Industrial Research Limited (IRL), describes some of the properties that superconductive materials show. He explains an effect known as the Meissner effect and discusses its application to levitated transport systems.

Rights: The University of Waikato

Download the Word file (see link below) for:

  • introduction/background notes

  • instructions on what you need and what to do

  • student worksheet.

Related content

Find out more about the work of the high-temperature superconductor research team based at IRL and the development of a superconductive ceramic material with commercial potential.

Related activity

Superconductivity – Bob Buckley interview: listen to a podcast of IRL superconductivity scientist Dr Bob Buckley talking about this work and then answer a series of graded questions related to the content.

Published: 27 April 2010