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Copper Wire.

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Copper is probably the most used bulk electrical conductor. Silver is used in smaller electronic applications.


I was wondering if anybody can remember where, due to a lack of Cu, Ag was used in vast quantities for a special application at great expense. The details elude me at present. I have two clues. Ten tons and 1,663.


Z.
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    Silver plated conductors are commonly used in HF equipment due to skin effect where the current flows near the surface of the conductor. In high powered VHF/ UHF transmitters silver plated tubes are used as opposed to solid conductors.
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    I think that it was for the Calutrons used to separate the isotopes of uranium for the atomic bomb project in the USA.

    https://www.americanscientist.org/article/from-treasury-vault-to-the-manhattan-project


    Best regards


    Roger
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    Zoomup:

    I was wondering if anybody can remember where, due to a lack of Cu, Ag was used in vast quantities for a special application at great expense. The details elude me at present. I have two clues. Ten tons and 1,663.




    During the 2nd world war, copper was in short supply; was it the start of the 13A ring main?. Aluminium (Bauxite) was more available, the British Aluminium smelter at Kinlochleven had copper busbars for the cells, these were replaced at that time with aluminium busbars. The same time when iron railings were taken from around council houses and stumps just left; all for the war effort.


    Jaymack    

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    Roger Bryant:

    I think that it was for the Calutrons used to separate the isotopes of uranium for the atomic bomb project in the USA.

    https://www.americanscientist.org/article/from-treasury-vault-to-the-manhattan-project


    Best regards


    Roger




    Roger has it right.


    The Manhattan Project during WW2 needed much copper wire for the Calutrons to extract U235 and U238. Copper was scarce and silver was used at a cost of 300 million U.S.D. Silver coins were melted down from the U.S. treasury for the purpose of being turned into silver electrical wire. 10 tons of silver was needed I believe. At Oak Ridge over 80,000 workers were involved. At the Eastman Plant in Tennessee the electro magnetic process was used. Electric power was provided by the T.V.A. at 150,000 kW/minute at the Clinton Engineering Works, and huge amounts of water. 


    J.R. Oppenheimer worked at the research and manufacturing lab.  establishment at Los Alamos in New Mexico. It had the address of just P.O.Box 1663.


    The Dr. Arthur Compton that we are familiar with is involved in the Manhattan Project as well. His name was associated with fluorescent lighting as well.


    At 12 minutes plus into this clip we can see a short glimpse of a Calutron being made.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv5JNAuGcJU


    Z.

     

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    Presumably the silver was just on loan?
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    Chris Pearson:

    Presumably the silver was just on loan?




    Yes Chris it was on loan and remarkably more silver was returned than loaned out due to a very thorough cleaning process of the works used to make the silver wire. Some silver left over from previous jobs stuck to machines in the equipment and must have been recovered and returned to the U.S. Treasury! Please read Roger's link above. It is very interesting.


    Z.

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    Zoomup:



     at 150,000 kW/minute



    ????

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    wallywombat:




    Zoomup:



     at 150,000 kW/minute



    ????


     





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    Zoomup:




    wallywombat:




    Zoomup:



     at 150,000 kW/minute



    ????


     







    Looks like wikipedia was missing a comma: that should be:

    "the proposed plants would need access to 150,000 kW of electrical power <comma> and 370,000 US gallons (1,400,000 l) of water per minute"

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