Conduction
Figure 1. Common metals, such as copper, display both thermal and electrical conductivity [1]
Conduction can refer to either:
- Thermal conduction: the physical property of heat moving through material[2]
- Electrical conduction: the physical property of electricity moving through material[3]
The word conductor usually means a material with high electrical conductivity (low resistivity). However, most electric conductors (usually metals), are good thermal conductors as well.[4] For example, copper is both an excellent thermal conductor and electrical conductor.
The reverse is usually but not always true;[4] for example, diamonds are excellent thermal conductors (even better than copper) but usually electrical insulators. Although at very low temperatures a research group found [5] showing that diamonds can become superconductors below 4 K (superconductivity is specifically a description of electrical conduction, not thermal conduction).
For Further Reading
- Thermal conduction
- Electrical conduction
- Conductor
- Resistor
- Electrical insulator
- Or explore a random page
References
- ↑ Pixabay. (2013). Copper-wire [Online]. Available: http://pixabay.com/p-113249/?no_redirect.
- ↑ Boston University. (1998). Heat Transfer, and The First Law of Thermodynamic [Online]. Available: http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/notes/Heattransfer.html
- ↑ Virginia Universiy. Electrical Conduction [Online]. Available: http://www.virginia.edu/bohr/mse209/chapter19.htm
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Electronics Cooling. (2000). How Thermal Conductivity Relates to Electrical Conductivity [Online]. Available: http://www.electronics-cooling.com/2000/05/how-thermal-conductivity-relates-to-electrical-conductivity/
- ↑ Ekimov et al., "Superconductivity in diamond" in Nature, Vol. 428, New York: MacMillan, 2004, pp. 542-5. Available: http://www.nims.go.jp/NFM/paper1/SuperconductingDiamond/01nature02449.pdf