Chapter Fourteen

Superconductivity

An electrically conductive material is a material that has free electrons that are free to drift throughout the material. When a drift electron is captured by an atom or molecule in a conductive material, some of the kinetic energy of the drift electron is transformed into thermal energy of the atom or molecule that has captured the drift electron. The velocity of the drift electrons of a conductive material is identical with the velocity of a current through the material. In other words, the velocity of drift electrons is a constant for a specific conductive material. When no current is flowing in a conductive material, the drift electrons move about randomly inside the conductive material.

        The Electrothermal Effect is the effect whereby drift electrons in a current transfer thermal energy to atoms or molecules that they come in contact with. The rate at which atoms or molecules in a conductive material absorb thermal energy from drift electrons in a current is called the electrothermal frequency of the conductive material. The electrothermal frequency of a conductive material determines the positive electrical resistance of the material, because electrothermal energy is what causes positive resistance in a conductive material.

        The thermal energy of atoms and molecules in a conductive material can transfer some of their energy to drift electrons that are in the nondrift state, thus enabling captured drift electrons to become drift electrons. I call the fact that certain atoms and molecules can transfer some of their thermal energy to captured drift electrons the Thermoelectric Effect. The thermoelectric effect is the exact opposite of the electrothermal effect. I call the rate at which the atoms or molecules in a conductive material