superconducting

superconducting — adjective

1. describes a material that conducts electricity with zero resistance when cooled

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describes a material that conducts electricity with zero resistance when cooled to extreme cold, typically near absolute zero.

Example

The research team tested the superconducting wire at minus 269 degrees Celsius.

collocation: superconducting wire

Minh explained how a superconducting magnet can lift a train above the track.

collocation: superconducting magnet

Common collocations
  • superconducting magnet
  • superconducting wire
  • superconducting cable
  • superconducting material
  • superconducting circuit

Grammar Patterns

superconducting + noun

be + superconducting

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun that names a device or substance capable of superconductivity. The comparative form (e.g. 'more superconducting') is rare and non-standard.

Word family

  • superconductor
    nounC1
  • superconductivity
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While 'conductive' describes any material that allows electricity to pass through it (including metals like copper at normal temperatures), 'superconducting' refers specifically to materials that achieve zero electrical resistance when cooled below a critical temperature. A conductive wire loses some energy as heat; a superconducting wire loses none. On the opposite end, 'resistive' describes materials that oppose the flow of electricity, converting some of it into heat — the exact opposite of a superconductor. For example, copper wire is conductive above its normal operating range, but when cooled with liquid helium it becomes superconducting and carries current without any heat loss.

conductiveresistive

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • superconducting quantum interference device
  • superconducting transition temperature

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Formed by combining the prefix 'super-' (from Latin 'super' meaning 'above, beyond') with 'conducting' (from Latin 'conducere' meaning 'to lead together'). The term was coined in the early 1910s following the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes's discovery that mercury conducts electricity without any resistance when cooled to about 4 degrees above absolute zero.