Superconductivity: A Mobile Museum Exhibit

1. Superconductivity: A Mobile Museum Exhibit By Ken Bowles & Brian McClain (Apopka High School) (Godby High School)

2. Why Is a Museum Exhibit on SUPERCONDUCTIVITY Needed? • Little public knowledge beyond basic definition. • Applications of superconductivity currently do impact many lives. • Applications will expand and influence additional areas of our lives. • Increasing economic impact of technology & industry, with some tax payer-financed and government regulated endeavors.

3. Module 1: What Is Magnetism? Visitors should be able to understand: • That there are different types of magnetism • That there are different types of magnets • All magnets have a magnetic field • The history of magnetism

4. Visitors will be able to experience: Hands-on demonstrations that include: Iron filings suspended in oil with magnets visitors can touch Various demos that when the current is turned on the magnetic field is visible with a compass An electromagnet the visitor can turn on and pick up various items Each exhibit will ask: What to do…. What to notice…. What is going on…. Module 1: Exhibits

5. Module 2: What Is Electricity? Visitors should be able to understand: • The difference between a conductor and an insulator • The importance of current in a circuit • The role of resistance in a circuit • The importance of voltage in a circuit • How different devices (resistors,voltmeters, ammeters,bulbs, etc.) can be arranged in a circuit to produce different effects

6. Visitors will be able to experience: Hands-on demonstrations that include: An ammeter that detects current via a rotating hanging magnet A bulb that lights with different # of batteries A variable resistor demo A java program that allows the visitor to drag and drop electrical devices to build a virtual circuit Module 2: Exhibits

7. Module 3: Electricity and Magnetism: Working Together Visitors should be able to understand: • That there is a “cause & effect” relationship. Example: current creates a magnetic field and a magnetic field can create current • The relationships between force, current, and magnetic field according to the right hand rule

8. Visitors will be able to experience: Hands-on demonstrations that include: Bars and wires that move when current is turned on Items that spin with no physical touch A current balance experiment Module 3: Exhibits

9. Module 4: What Is Superconductivity? Visitors should be able to understand: • The difference between the 3 temperature scales • That superconductors have “0” resistance at a critical temperature • Superconductors “trap” magnets

10. Module 4: Exhibits Visitors will be able to experience: Hands-on demonstrations that include: • A Superconducting light switch • Meissner effect • A levitated rotating cylinder

11. Module 5: Superconductors – A Historical Timeline Visitors should be able to understand: • Important discoveries in the past and their impact on science • Present theories • Possible open-ended questions for the future

12. Module 5: Exhibits Visitors will be able to experience: • An interactive computer based timeline of events and people important to superconductors • A “predict the graph” activity to help explain the way scientists were thinking about resistance and temperature

13. Module 6: SuperconductorProduction Visitors should be able to understand: • How mixing, pressing, and heating are related in building a superconductor • Alternate production techniques such as drawing wire, thin film deposition, & melt texturing

14. Module 6: Exhibits Visitors will be able to experience: • Possible models of all equipment used in production • Superconductor chemistry lesson • How pressure effects matter

15. Modules 7: Superconductor Characterization Visitors should be able to understand: • How scientists determine whether the production process was successful • The devices scientists use to analyze superconductors after the production process

16. Module 7: Exhibits Visitors will be able to experience: • How a scanning electron microscope works with a possible interactive model • How a SQUID works • How X-RAY diffraction works

17. Modules 8-9: Superconductor Applications in Society Module 8: superconductor uses in utilities • Power cables, storage & supply Module 9: superconductor uses in space • Space telescopes & space elevators

18. Modules 10 & 11: Superconductor Applications in Society Module 10: superconductors in medicine • MRI, NMR, SQUID technology Module 11: superconductors in transportation • MAGLEV

19. Module 12: Superconductors in Electronics Exhibit will focus on: • Superconducting supercomputers • Transistors • Electric memory • Switches

20. In Conclusion: • A museum exhibit for public education on superconductivity is needed. • The exhibit and materials should be flexible to address a variety of audiences. • For this to be done well, additional resources should be pursued.

21. Sincere Thanks to Those Who Assisted Us: Dr. Justin Schwartz and Dr. Sastry Pamidi Dr. Pat Dixon, Gina Hickey, and Karl Hook,CIRL staff of the NHMFL Sue Butler and Brenda Holt, Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston Heather Whitaker of the Brogan Museum of Art and Science Gerry Hart of the FSU Department of Physics