Electricity and Copper Wire?

[Localjoe]

http://www.sei.co.jp/super/hts_e/index.html  this explains what im talking about

Bismuth-based superconducting material was discovered in Japan. Sumitomo Electric is the world's first company to produce long bismuth-based superconducting wire, which has now become a global standard. Bismuth-based superconducting material is made of bismuth - strontium - calcium - copper - oxygen (Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O). The 2223 phase with composition ratio of Bi, Sr, Ca and Cu is 2:2:2:3 has high critical temperature (110 K) and therefore is attracting much attention as a commercially viable material since its discovery. Sumitomo Electric has been researching the solid phase method for combined processing of silver and bismuth-based HTS material. Using its innovative process called "Controlled Over Pressure (CT-OP)", quality and productivity for Bi-based HTS wires are improved substantially.

goes with picture : Electric current over 100 times that of copper wire
can be flown at zero electric resistance.) 

[hansvonlieven]

110 Kelvin is not very much, a bit hard for us chickens to use LOL

Hans

[sparks]

   A good conductor always has a bunch of electrons that are not tightly bound in fixed orbitals relative to the atomic neuclei.  They form an electron cloud so to speak.  Electrons just barely fixed in an atomic structure wandering back and forth between atoms of the conductor.  Now if you start to combine different metals and make more and more electrons in the cloud it gets to be a better conductor cause well,  there are more electrons available to move.  What happens in a wire is after you have accelerated all the valence electrons in the cloud the potential goes to work on the electrons which are more tightly bound to the protons.  They don't move out of their orbitals but cause the whole atom to move.  Moving atoms = thermal energy.  So your voltage is going into heating the conductor instead of moving electrons.  Another interesting thing about current in a wire is that most of the current is carried by the skin.  Something to do with the mass of the electrons which creates viscosity and therefore shear planes.  High tension wires have hollow cores to minimize weight and cost.  The power companies also convert the ac to dc to minimize self-inductive losses.

[mapsrg]

@sparks....so are you saying that the electric current is a creating a field around the wire or the field  around the wire is the current?

[sparks]

@mapsrg

      I believe what happens is the conductor has this electronic cloud of loosely bound electrons.  It is barely holding itself together on a molecular basis.  So when you cause a potential to form on each end of this conductor the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy when the electrons of the conductor move.  An electrical wind so to speak. The electrons on the skin of the conductor find it easier to move because there is less mass in their way.  The electrons have mass so they have viscosity and inertia just like any other matter.  When the potential stops or reverses the electrons reorder themselves into orbitals dictated by the neucleus.  This isn't a big deal when the wire is only 20' long but when you are talking 100's of miles this amounts to alot of wasted copper and energy.  So they make a hollow wire and use DC.  The hollow wire to reduce weight and expense, the DC to get away from the losses due to the mass of the electrons.  And don't forget our ever present magnetic structuring around a conductor.  Lot less losses when this magnetic field isn't changing 60times a second and producing eddy currents in the conductor.