The reaction of superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 Oy powder with water is studied kinetically. The initial rate law is found aso is the initial surface area of the solid, a and b is found to be 0.94 ± 0.02 and 0.318 ± 0.002, respectively. For 100.7 mg powder with a mean radius of 0.0265 mm at pH 7.00 and 298 K, Ro is 2.21 × 10 −4 mol · min −1 . Using a = 1 and b = 0.3, the rate constant, k, obtained at 283, 298 and 313 K is 0.64, 1.84 and 4.91 × 10 −3 mol · min −1 · cm −2 · M −0.3 , respectively. The activation energy is 50.0 kJ · mol −1 and pre-exponential factor is 1.09 × 10 6 mol · min −1 · cm −2 · M −0.3 , as calculated from the Arrhenius equation.