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[clarification needed] A good electrical conductor, such as copper, also conducts heat well. Thermoelectricity is caused by the interaction of heat flux and electric current. Heat conduction within a solid is directly analogous to diffusion of particles within a fluid, in the situation where there are no fluid currents.
The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to conduct heat.It is commonly denoted by , , or and is measured in W·m −1 ·K −1.. Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials of high thermal conductivity.
In heat transfer, the thermal conductivity of a substance, k, is an intensive property that indicates its ability to conduct heat. For most materials, the amount of heat conducted varies (usually non-linearly) with temperature.
The good electrical conductivity of plasmas makes their electric fields very small. This results in the important concept of quasineutrality , which says the density of negative charges is approximately equal to the density of positive charges over large volumes of the plasma ( n e = Z > n i ), but on the scale of the Debye length there can be ...
Thermal contact resistance is significant and may dominate for good heat conductors such as metals but can be neglected for poor heat conductors such as insulators. [2] Thermal contact conductance is an important factor in a variety of applications, largely because many physical systems contain a mechanical combination of two materials.
A 2008 review paper written by Philips researcher Clemens J. M. Lasance notes that: "Although there is an analogy between heat flow by conduction (Fourier's law) and the flow of an electric current (Ohm’s law), the corresponding physical properties of thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity conspire to make the behavior of heat flow ...
The electric field sends the electron to the p-type material, and the hole to the n-type material. If an external current path is provided, electrical energy will be available to do work. The electron flow provides the current, and the cell's electric field creates the voltage. With both current and voltage the silicon cell has power.
The resistance of a given conductor depends on the material it is made of, and on its dimensions. For a given material, the resistance is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area. [1] For example, a thick copper wire has lower resistance than an otherwise-identical thin copper wire. Also, for a given material, the resistance is ...