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ThermalConductivityandtheWiedemannFranzLaw

ThermalConductivity
Heattransferbyconductioninvolvestransferofenergywithinamaterialwithoutany
motionofthematerialasawhole.Therateofheattransferdependsuponthetemperature
gradientandthethermalconductivityofthematerial.Thermalconductivityisareasonably
straightforwardconceptwhenyouarediscussingheatlossthroughthewallsofyourhouse,
andyoucanfindtableswhichcharacterizethebuildingmaterialsandallowyoutomake
reasonablecalculations.
Morefundamentalquestionsarisewhenyouexaminethereasonsforwidevariationsin
thermalconductivity.Gasestransferheatbydirectcollisionsbetweenmolecules,andas
wouldbeexpected,theirthermalconductivityislowcomparedtomostsolidssincetheyare
dilutemedia.Nonmetallicsolidstransferheatbylatticevibrationssothatthereisnonet
motionofthemediaastheenergypropagatesthrough.Suchheattransferisoftendescribed
intermsof"phonons",quantaoflatticevibrations.Metalsaremuchbetterthermal
conductorsthannonmetalsbecausethesamemobileelectronswhichparticipatein
electricalconductionalsotakepartinthetransferofheat.
Conceptually,thethermalconductivitycanbethoughtofasthecontainerforthemedium
dependentpropertieswhichrelatetherateofheatlossperunitareatotherateofchangeof
temperature.

Moreformaltreatment

Foranidealgastheheattransferrateisproportionaltotheaveragemolecularvelocity,the
meanfreepath,andthemolarheatcapacityofthegas.

Index
Heat
transfer
concepts
Heat
transfer
examples

Fornonmetallicsolids,theheattransferisviewasbeingtransferredvialatticevibrations,
asatomsvibratingmoreenergeticallyatonepartofasolidtransferthatenergytoless
energeticneighboringatoms.Thiscanbeenhancedbycooperativemotionintheformof
propagatinglatticewaves,whichinthequantumlimitarequantizedasphonons.Practically,
thereissomuchvariabilityfornonmetallicsolidsthatwenormallyjustcharacterizethe
substancewithameasuredthermalconductivitywhendoingordinarycalculations.
Formetals,thethermalconductivityisquitehigh,andthosemetalswhicharethebest
electricalconductorsarealsothebestthermalconductors.Atagiventemperature,the
thermalandelectricalconductivitiesofmetalsareproportional,butraisingthetemperature
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ThermalConductivityandtheWiedemannFranzLaw

increasesthethermalconductivitywhiledecreasingtheelectricalconductivity.This
behaviorisquantifiedintheWiedemannFranzLaw:

wheretheconstantofproportionalityLiscalledtheLorenznumber.Qualitatively,this
relationshipisbaseduponthefactthattheheatandelectricaltransportbothinvolvethefree
electronsinthemetal.Thethermalconductivityincreaseswiththeaverageparticlevelocity
sincethatincreasestheforwardtransportofenergy.However,theelectricalconductivity
decreaseswithparticlevelocityincreasesbecausethecollisionsdiverttheelectronsfrom
forwardtransportofcharge.Thismeansthattheratioofthermaltoelectricalconductivity
dependsupontheaveragevelocitysquared,whichisproportionaltothekinetictemperature.
Thermalconductivitytable

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TheWiedemannFranzLaw
Theratioofthethermalconductivitytotheelectricalconductivityofametalisproportional
tothetemperature.Qualitatively,thisrelationshipisbaseduponthefactthattheheatand
electricaltransportbothinvolvethefreeelectronsinthemetal.Thethermalconductivity
increaseswiththeaverageparticlevelocitysincethatincreasestheforwardtransportof
energy.However,theelectricalconductivitydecreaseswithparticlevelocityincreases
becausethecollisionsdiverttheelectronsfromforwardtransportofcharge.Thismeansthat
theratioofthermaltoelectricalconductivitydependsupontheaveragevelocitysquared,
whichisproportionaltothekinetictemperature.Themolarheatcapacityofaclassical
monoatomicgasisgivenby

Qualitatively,theWiedemannFranzLawcanbeunderstoodbytreatingtheelectronslikea
classicalgasandcomparingtheresultantthermalconductivitytotheelectricalconductivity.
Theexpressionsforthermalandelectricalconductivitybecome:

Usingtheexpressionformeanparticlespeedfromkinetictheory
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ThermalConductivityandtheWiedemannFranzLaw

Index
theratioofthesequantitiescanbeexpressedintermsofthetemperature.Theratioof
thermaltoelectricalconductivityillustratestheWiedemannFranzLaw

Whilequalitativelyagreeingwithexperiment,thevalueoftheconstantisinerrorinthis
classicaltreatment.Whenthequantummechanicaltreatmentisdone,thevalueofthe
constantisfoundtobe:

Heat
transfer
concepts
Heat
transfer
examples

Lorenznumberin
108Wattohm/K2
Metal 273K 373K
Thisisingoodagreementwithexperiment,ascanbeseenfromthe
valuesinthetable.Thefactthattheratioofthermaltoelectrical
conductivitytimesthetemperatureisconstantformstheessenceof
theWiedemannFranzLaw.Itisremarkablethatitisalso
independentoftheparticlemassandthenumberdensityofthe
particles.
ThedataisfromC.Kittel,IntroductiontoSolidStatePhysics,5th
Ed.,NewYork:Wiley,1976,p.178.

Ag

2.31

2.37

Au

2.35

2.40

Cd

2.42

2.43

Cu

2.23

2.33

Ir

2.49

2.49

Mo

2.61

2.79

Pb

2.47

2.56

Pt

2.51

2.60

Sn

2.52

2.49

3.04

3.20

Zn

2.31

2.33

Thermalconductivitytable Electricalconductivitytable

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ThermalConductivity
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ThermalConductivityandtheWiedemannFranzLaw

Heattransferbyconductioninvolvestransferofenergywithinamaterialwithoutany
motionofthematerialasawhole.Therateofheattransferdependsuponthetemperature
gradientandthethermalconductivityofthematerial.Algebraicmethodscanbeusedforthe
calculationofconductionheattransferacrossplanewalls,butformostgeometriestheheat
transfermustbeexpressedintermsofthethermalgradient.
Conceptually,thethermalconductivitycanbethoughtofasthecontainerforthemedium
dependentpropertieswhichrelatetherateofheatlossperunitareatotherateofchangeof
temperature.

Index
Heat
transfer
concepts
Heat
transfer
examples

Themathematicalgradientofafunctionisadirectionalderivativewhichpointsinthe
directionofthemaximumrateofchangeofthefunction.Thedirectionofheattransferwill
beoppositetothetemperaturegradientsincethenetenergytransferwillbefromhigh
temperaturetolow.Thisdirectionofmaximumheattransferwillbeperpendiculartothe
equaltemperaturesurfacessurroundingasourceofheat.
Thermalconductivitytable

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