A quantitative experiment on the fountain effect in superfluid helium
Superfluid helium, a state of matter existing at low temperatures, shows many remarkable properties. One example is the so called fountain effect, where a heater can produce a jet of helium. This converts heat into mechanical motion; a machine with no moving parts, but working only below 2 K. Allen...
| Autores: | , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2017 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/72687 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/72687 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | FOUNTAIN EFFECT SUPERFLUID HELIUM 4 THERMODYNAMICS UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIMENT https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Sumario: | Superfluid helium, a state of matter existing at low temperatures, shows many remarkable properties. One example is the so called fountain effect, where a heater can produce a jet of helium. This converts heat into mechanical motion; a machine with no moving parts, but working only below 2 K. Allen and Jones first demonstrated the effect in 1938, but their work was basically qualitative. We now present data of a quantitative version of the experiment. We have measured the heat supplied, the temperature and the height of the jet produced. We also develop equations, based on the two-fluid model of superfluid helium, that give a satisfactory fit to the data. The experiment has been performed by advanced undergraduate students in our home institution, and illustrates in a vivid way some of the striking properties of the superfluid state. |
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