3 ms·

>Where did the energy go then? Through the circuit. Heat is energy loss. The heat comes from the resistance. No resistance, no heat. To be more specific, the

>Where did the energy go then? Through the circuit. Heat is energy loss. The heat comes from the resistance. No resistance, no heat. To be more specific, the heat is from the kinetic energy of electrons bumping into the conductive material; no collision no heat.

TekMol 3y ago
Lets make a simple Gedankenspiel with only a wire made from LK-99 and a bunch of electrons sitting on the left end of the wire. After a moment, the electrons will be spread out evenly through the wire, right? So after a moment, the energy that was stored in the system (When all electrons were on the left) is lost. If no heat is emitted, where did the energy go?
- gambiting 3y ago
  Nowhere, it's still there - a loop of superconducting wire would also be a perfect energy storage because the electrons would just keep going around without any loss(it would be an extremely small capacity storage though, superconductors lose their superconductivity at high enough amperage which is basically what introducting more energy into the system would be).
  - baq 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energ...
  - akomtu 3y ago
    I suspect that a circular trajectory implies acceleration and when a charged particle accelerates, it radiates away energy.
- amluto 3y ago
  Superconducting circuits can still have AC loss. You’re basically describing discharging a capacitor through a superconductor. If there’s no loss anywhere, it will be be an LC oscillator. If there is loss, the energy will dissipate.
- LordHeini 3y ago
  Why would the electrons spread evenly? They move over to the other side and back and forth resulting in an oscillator. That causes all your energy being radiated into the surrounding via radio waves. That is how your microwave oven works but instead of a superconductor it uses a magnetron with free flowing electrons.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- bandrami 3y ago
  That's not how electric current works. It's more like a wave in an ocean. A wave may travel from Hawaii to California but no actual water molecule moves that far (or even very much at all). Electric current is a wave of excitation of electrons, which is what moves at the speed of light. The actual drift of individual electrons in the current is much, much slower (and IIRC in a superconductor is zero).
  - stoniejohnson 3y ago
    Veritasium has a cool video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHIhgxav9LY&pp=ygUVdmVyaXRhc2l1bSBlbGVjdHJpY3R5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHIhgxav9LY&pp=ygUVdmVyaXRhc...
    - s1artibartfast 3y ago
      Interesting video, So it is sad that they did such a terrible job explaining why the the answer is 1/c. It makes it sound like the bulb is getting full power at 1/c, when it wont. As I understand from further reading, the power will build up over time, and that time depends highly on the shape of your circuit.
- jakeinspace 3y ago
  Current in a conductor does not involve the potential energy of charges (electrons) being concentrated. This should be clear by the fact that currents cause magnetic fields, but do not give the conductive wire a charge gradient (or an electric dipole moment).

TekMol 3y ago

Lets make a simple Gedankenspiel with only a wire made from LK-99 and a bunch of electrons sitting on the left end of the wire. After a moment, the electrons will be spread out evenly through the wire, right? So after a moment, the energy that was stored in the system (When all electrons were on the left) is lost. If no heat is emitted, where did the energy go?

gambiting 3y ago
Nowhere, it's still there - a loop of superconducting wire would also be a perfect energy storage because the electrons would just keep going around without any loss(it would be an extremely small capacity storage though, superconductors lose their superconductivity at high enough amperage which is basically what introducting more energy into the system would be).
- baq 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energ...
- akomtu 3y ago
  I suspect that a circular trajectory implies acceleration and when a charged particle accelerates, it radiates away energy.
amluto 3y ago
Superconducting circuits can still have AC loss. You’re basically describing discharging a capacitor through a superconductor. If there’s no loss anywhere, it will be be an LC oscillator. If there is loss, the energy will dissipate.
LordHeini 3y ago
Why would the electrons spread evenly? They move over to the other side and back and forth resulting in an oscillator. That causes all your energy being radiated into the surrounding via radio waves. That is how your microwave oven works but instead of a superconductor it uses a magnetron with free flowing electrons.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
bandrami 3y ago
That's not how electric current works. It's more like a wave in an ocean. A wave may travel from Hawaii to California but no actual water molecule moves that far (or even very much at all). Electric current is a wave of excitation of electrons, which is what moves at the speed of light. The actual drift of individual electrons in the current is much, much slower (and IIRC in a superconductor is zero).
- stoniejohnson 3y ago
  Veritasium has a cool video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHIhgxav9LY&pp=ygUVdmVyaXRhc2l1bSBlbGVjdHJpY3R5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHIhgxav9LY&pp=ygUVdmVyaXRhc...
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    Interesting video, So it is sad that they did such a terrible job explaining why the the answer is 1/c. It makes it sound like the bulb is getting full power at 1/c, when it wont. As I understand from further reading, the power will build up over time, and that time depends highly on the shape of your circuit.
jakeinspace 3y ago
Current in a conductor does not involve the potential energy of charges (electrons) being concentrated. This should be clear by the fact that currents cause magnetic fields, but do not give the conductive wire a charge gradient (or an electric dipole moment).