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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.
The process of heat transfer from one place to another place without the movement of particles is called conduction, such as when placing a hand on a cold glass of water—heat is conducted from the warm skin to the cold glass, but if the hand is held a few inches from the glass, little conduction would occur since air is a poor conductor of heat.
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.
Conduction heat flux q k for ideal gas is derived with the gas kinetic theory or the Boltzmann transport equations, and the thermal conductivity is =, -, where u f 2 1/2 is the RMS (root mean square) thermal velocity (3k B T/m from the MB distribution function, m: atomic mass) and τ f-f is the relaxation time (or intercollision time period ...
In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by modes other than thermodynamic work and transfer of matter. Such modes are microscopic, mainly thermal conduction, radiation, and friction, as distinct from the macroscopic modes, thermodynamic work and transfer of matter. [1]
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.
where A is the surface area, is the temperature driving force, Q is the heat flow per unit time, and h is the heat transfer coefficient. Within heat transfer, two principal types of convection can occur: Forced convection can occur in both laminar and turbulent flow.
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).