Final answer:
The resistance of typical conductors increases with temperature due to more frequent electron collisions, while superconductors achieve zero resistance at low temperatures, below their critical temperature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The resistance of a typical conductor increases as the temperature increases. This is because when the temperature rises, atoms within the conductor vibrate more rapidly and over larger distances, causing electrons moving through the metal to make more collisions thus increasing the resistivity of the material. The formula describing this relationship over small temperature ranges (around 100°C or less) is P = Po(1 + αΔT), where Po is the original resistivity and α is the temperature coefficient of resistivity. For conductors, α is typically positive, indicating that resistivity increases with temperature.
Conversely, the resistance of a superconductor dramatically decreases as the temperature decreases, reaching zero resistance below a certain critical temperature, known as Tc. These materials exhibit no electrical resistance and therefore can conduct electricity with no energy loss. For instance, YBa₂Cu₃O₇, a high-temperature superconductor, shows zero resistance below 92 K. The transition to superconductivity is abrupt and happens when cooled below their critical temperatures, which can vary depending on the material but are generally well below room temperature. Temperature plays a crucial role in the electrical properties of materials, with the resistance behavior being markedly different between typical conductors and superconductors. The understanding of temperature variation of resistance has been instrumental in the development of applications like MRI machines and maglev trains which utilize the superconductivity phenomenon.