Decide which part of speech the words belong to. Give Russian equivalents.

Superconductivity, superconductor, superconductive, superconducting; physics, physical, physicist, physically; resistivity, resistance, resistant, resistor; differ, difference, different, differentiate, differently, differential; apply, appliance, application, applied, applicable;

measure, measureless, measurement; powerless, power, powerful, powerfully.

    9 Work in pairs. Read the sentences and discuss the meanings of would in each sentence.

   1. If conductor resistance could be eliminated entirely, there would be no power losses or 

   inefficiencies in electric power systems due to stray resistances. Electric motors could be made

   almost perfectly (100%) efficient.

   2. Even though a superconducting wire would have zero resistance to oppose current, there will

   still a limit of how much current could practically go through that wire due to its critical magnetic    

   field.

   3.Tesla would continue to use his Tesla coil in experiments with radio remote control, fluorescent

   lighting, x-rays and universal wireless power transmission.

   4.The idea of a power plant that gets electricity to your home down superconducting wires sounds

   brilliant: it would save huge amounts of wasted energy.

   5. But if you had to cool large parts of the plant and all the transmission wires to absolute zero,   

   you’ d probably waste far more energy doing that than you’ d ever save from having no resistance

   in cables.

   6. If we could make a material that was superconducting at room temperature, our computers

   would work faster because they‘ d allowelectric currents to flow more easily.

   7. The hope is to one day use superconductivity in power transmission, which would dramatically

   reduce energy costs around the world.

   8. He said he would continue to conduct the experiment in three weeks.

   9. I tried to write down her address but the pen wouldn’t write.

   10. Would you like to experience the pleasure and excitement of research in the field of

    superconductivity?

   11. It would be wrong to say that the world of science stood in awe of the new discovery.

   12. Strong materials would not break easily.

 

    10. Study the rules. Then match rules 1- 8 with the examples in Exercise 9.

    WOULD

    Rules:

 

   1 We can use would to talk about imaginary possibilities (and impossibilities)

         What would you like to change about your job?

  2 We often use would with verbs about ‘liking’ and ‘disliking’.

        I’d like (=I would like)… is a polite way of saying what you want.

          I’d like / wouldn’t like a little more free time.

  3 To offer or to invite we use Would you like …?

      ‘ Would you like some coffee?’

        ‘Would you like to join us?’ ‘Yes, I’d love to’

 

     Would is often contracted to ’ d. The contraction for would + not = wouldn’t.

 

   4 We can use would + infinitive for past habits and repeated actions (but not states)

       which have changed. With would we often use a past time reference In this meaning

       we can use used to + infinitive instead.

       We’ d often meet up on a Friday evening after work. (=repeated)

   5 We use if+ past simple, would + infinitive to talk about hypothetical situations in 

      the present/future

         If I saw a person in trouble, I would help them.

 

      spoken grammar

     In formal English, we use were instead of was with I / he / she / it. In spoken English

    (apart from in the phrase if I were you), we usually use was

     Chris would tell me if he was in trouble.

       If I were you, I’d go to the doctor’s

     6 We use if + past perfect, would + have+ past participle to talk about hypothetical situations

     in the past, situations that might have happened in the past but didn’t.

        If you’d (=had) checked you emails, you would have known about the meeting.

     7 Would is also used as the past form of will in reported clauses.

         We’ ll do it →They said they would do it.

     8 We use would to talk about willingness in past time situations. We use would to talk about

         willingness in past time situations. We usually use the negative form wouldn’t in this case,

           I tried to start my car this morning but it wouldn’t.

     9 In some sentences would is used to indicate a typical or noticeable feature of someone

        or something.

            Practically all metals would conduct electricity.

 

     11. Read the information. Find the sentences with would and translate them. Then prepare

   to talk about this important discovery. Present your talk to other students in your group.

   Listeners: make notes of questions to ask them at the end.

   Useful notes

Нeike Kamerlingh Onnes- голландский физик и химик Хейке Камерлинг Оннес

helium [ˈhiːliəm] - гелий

lead [lеd] - свинец  

niobium nitride |naɪˈoʊbiəm ˈnaɪtraɪd| - нитрид ниобия

to purify [ˈpjʊərɪ.faɪ] – to rid something of dirty or harmful substances.

      Why and how did Kamerlingh Onnes discover superconductivity?

 

   At the beginning of the 20^th century, K. Onnes wanted to measure and understand the properties

   of metals at very low temperatures. Until then, we only knew that the resistance in a metal

   progressively drops when the temperature is decreased. But what would happen if we cooled the

   metal to absolute zero? Would the resistance continue to slowly decrease, would it reach an

   absolute minimum or would it approach an infinite value?

   The first measurements showed a saturation to a minimum of resistance, but this limit seemed to

    depend on the purity of the metal. This is the reason why Onnes decided to measure a metal he

   knew how to purify: mercury.

  On April 8^th 1911 Onnes discovered to his own amazement that below 4.2 K the resistance of

  mercury suddenly dropped to zero!                                                     
                                                                 
                                                                .

                                                                These words in Dutch Kwik nagenoeg nul werefound in
                                                                  Onnes’s notebook. They were written on April 8^th 1911.

                                                                In English it means the resistance of mercury is zero.

 

  This experiment can be repeated showing a very sudden drop which is completely unexpected.

  This happens as if the metal electrons suddenly started to move forward with nothing to slow

 them down.

   K.Onnes called this phenomenon of perfect conductivity – superconductivity.

   In the same experiment, he also observed the superfluid transition of helium at 2.2 K., without

   recognizing its significance. The precise date and the circumstances of the discovery were only

   reconstructed a century later, when Onnes’s notebook was found. In subsequent decades,

   superconductivity was observed in several other materials. In 1913 lead was found to

   superconduct at 7 K, in 1941 niobium nitride (нитрид ниобия) was found to superconduct at

   16 K. Subsequent tests of tin and lead showed that superconductivity was a property of numerous   

    metals if they were cooled sufficiently.

Although superconductivity remained an esoteric scientific research area during his lifetime, Onnes firmly believed that the resistance-free current would eventually allow for the creation of many practical devices.

12 Watch the first part of the video Superconductor ~ Heike Kamerlingh Onnes & Walther Meissner (3:18) and then complete the sentences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQNzl4yd05c

Useful notes

Groningen - Гр о нинген – университетский город на севере Нидерландов

Heidelberg University – Гейдельбергский университет в Германии

Leiden University – Лейденский университет в Нидерландах

to cease [ siːs ] - to stop an action or condition

to impede [ɪmˈpiːd]– to slow something down

 

1 Cooled below a critical temperature certain materials display astonishing characteristics. They can be made …, to present no electrical resistance, and they conduct electricalcurrent with …

2 But to unlock superconducting properties it’s necessary …

3 On the tenth of July 1908 he succeeded in liquefying helium at …

4 Absolute zero (or minus 273 Celsius) is defined as …

5 Atoms have a certain kinetic energy which is dependent on …

6 At Absolute Zero nearly all atomic motion ….

Watch the second part of the video (3:18 – 5:38). Work in pairs and mark the sentences below true or false. Correct the false sentences if any. Then watch the video extract again and check your answers.

1 In 1911 K. Onnes started examining the electrical properties of metals at extremely low temperatures. In the course of those studies he also observed the electrical resistance on cooling.

2 What Ohm called resistance is the degree to which a cable increases an electric currentrunning through it.

 

3 Resistance occurs as a result of electrons colliding with the atoms of the conductor and giving off energy in the form of heat.

4 The more energy is passed to the atoms the less kinetic energy remains for the electrons and the lower the resistance.

 

5 In the course of his experiments K. Onnes observed that when mercury was cooled with liquid helium to minus 269 degrees Celsius it conducted electricity without great resistance and with  heat gain.

 

6 K. Onnes discovered the first superconductor, a material in which an electrical current encounters low resistance.

 

7 That temperature at which a material starts to superconduct is known as the transition temperature.

 

8 In 1911 K.Onnes was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for his work on the characteristics of the matter at low temperatures.