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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
HyperPhysics*****Thermodynamics
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