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Superconductors are one type of ______ substances.

Asked in GSEB Board July 2022 · Dia, para and ferromagnetism

Answer: (1) diamagnetic

Step-by-step solution

Idea: classify a material by what it does to the field inside it.

A superconductor expels the field completely -- the Meissner effect -- so B=0 in its interior. To cancel the applied field its magnetisation must oppose it exactly.

That is diamagnetic behaviour taken to the limit: χ=-1 and μᵣ=0, a perfect diamagnet.

It is also why a superconductor is pushed out of a strong field, which is what holds a magnet levitating above one.

So superconductors are diamagnetic substances.

Why the other options are wrong

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