{"id":1974,"date":"2011-01-05T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2011-01-05T18:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2026-03-08T21:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T04:04:26","slug":"levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/","title":{"rendered":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The Meisner effect<\/a> is a great demonstration on one of the unique ways superconductors behave when cooled to super-cold temperatures. When placing a magnet over the supercooled superconductor, it appears to defy the laws of gravity, and floats over the surface. At this temperature, the superconductor reflects a magnetic field as a perfect mirror image, creating a repulsion of like poles. The levitating magnet is free from all friction aside from air resistance, and moves freely and smoothly. This effect has helped the creation of MagLev high-speed trains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to play with superconductor levitation, but don’t have a superconductor? Make your own with just a few (quite specific) ingredients and pieces of equipment. The full set of instructions can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Equipment<\/strong>
\n 
\nTo make an yttrium-barium-copper-oxide\u00a0superconductor<\/strong>, you will need:
\n 
\n* Yttrium Oxide
\n* Barium Carbonate (TOXIC)
\n* Cupric Oxide
\n* A Laboratory Furnace or a converted pottery kiln.
\n* Labware made of alumina.
\n* An Oxygen Source
\n* Liquid Nitrogen and a rare-earth magnet for testing and demonstrating the\u00a0superconductors<\/strong>
\n 
\nMethod<\/strong>
\n 
\nThere are a number of methods of producing ceramic superconductors like this, but the simplest is the so-called \u201cshake and bake\u201d method, which involves a four step process:
\n1. Mixing the chemicals;
\n2. Calcination(the initial firing);
\n3. The intermediate firing(s) (oxygen annealings);
\n4. The final oxygen annealing.
\n 
\nThe number of intermediate firings and the length of the firings are largely up to the user. In general, the more intermediate firings, and the longer the duration of the firings under oxygen flow, the better the superconductor. But definite signs of superconductivity can usually be obtained without any intermediate firing at all. In fact, if the initial mixing of the chemicals is sufficiently thorough, the intermediate firing is not necessary at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Meisner effect is a great demonstration on one of the unique ways superconductors behave when cooled to super-cold temperatures. When placing a magnet over the supercooled superconductor, it appears to defy the laws of gravity, and floats over the surface. At this temperature,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diy"],"yoast_head":"\nLevitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mike\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mike\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mike\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39\"},\"headline\":\"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":297,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"DIY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/\",\"name\":\"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/2011\\\/01\\\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/\",\"name\":\"DO IT: Projects, Plans and How-tos\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39\",\"name\":\"mike\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/Headshot.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/Headshot.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/Headshot.png\",\"width\":\"918\",\"height\":\"734\",\"caption\":\"mike\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mikesenese.com\\\/DOIT\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/Headshot.png\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos","description":"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos","og_description":"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/","og_site_name":"DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos","article_published_time":"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"mike","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mike","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/"},"author":{"name":"mike","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#\/schema\/person\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39"},"headline":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor","datePublished":"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/"},"wordCount":297,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#\/schema\/person\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg","articleSection":["DIY"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/","name":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor — DO IT: Projects, Plans, and How-tos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg","datePublished":"2011-01-05T18:57:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T04:04:26+00:00","description":"# Meta Description Create a functioning superconductor at home and watch magnets levitate effortlessly using liquid nitrogen and basic materials from your","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2-580x435.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/2011\/01\/levitate-a-magnet-over-a-home-made-superconductor\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Levitate a Magnet Over A Home-made Superconductor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/","name":"DO IT: Projects, Plans and How-tos","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#\/schema\/person\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/#\/schema\/person\/a227bf73cecf8b1daa9691ffecf53b39","name":"mike","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Headshot.png","url":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Headshot.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Headshot.png","width":"918","height":"734","caption":"mike"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Headshot.png"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4392,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/4392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikesenese.com\/DOIT\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}