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Thermal conduction is the diffusion of thermal energy (heat) within one material or between materials in contact. The higher temperature object has molecules with more kinetic energy; collisions between molecules distributes this kinetic energy until an object has the same kinetic energy throughout.
In a simplified picture of a solid, thermal conduction occurs by two mechanisms: 1) the migration of free electrons and 2) lattice vibrations . The first mechanism dominates in pure metals and the second in non-metallic solids. In liquids, by contrast, the precise microscopic mechanisms of thermal conduction are poorly understood. [32]
Fig. 1: Heat flow between two solids in contact and the temperature distribution. When two solid bodies come in contact, such as A and B in Figure 1, heat flows from the hotter body to the colder body. From experience, the temperature profile along the two bodies varies, approximately, as shown in the figure. A temperature drop is observed at ...
An example of steady state conduction is the heat flow through walls of a warm house on a cold day—inside the house is maintained at a high temperature and, outside, the temperature stays low, so the transfer of heat per unit time stays near a constant rate determined by the insulation in the wall and the spatial distribution of temperature ...
The SI unit of absolute thermal resistance is kelvins per watt (K/W) or the equivalent degrees Celsius per watt (°C/W) – the two are the same since the intervals are equal: ΔT = 1 K = 1 °C. The thermal resistance of materials is of great interest to electronic engineers because most electrical components generate heat and need to be cooled.
[1] [2] [3] For example, if a 1 m 3 solid cube of material has sheet contacts on two opposite faces, and the resistance between these contacts is 1 Ω, then the resistivity of the material is 1 Ω⋅m. Electrical conductivity (or specific conductance) is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity. It represents a material's ability to conduct ...
Mixtures may have variable thermal conductivities due to composition. Note that for gases in usual conditions, heat transfer by advection (caused by convection or turbulence for instance) is the dominant mechanism compared to conduction. This table shows thermal conductivity in SI units of watts per metre-kelvin (W·m −1 ·K −1).
Two types of convective heat transfer may be distinguished: Free or natural convection: when fluid motion is caused by buoyancy forces that result from the density variations due to variations of thermal ±temperature in the fluid. In the absence of an internal source, when the fluid is in contact with a hot surface, its molecules separate and ...