Re: What exactly is a Watt per meter-Kelvin (W/mK)

Question: What exactly is a Watt per meter-Kelvin (W/mK)

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Question: What exactly is a Watt per meter-Kelvin (W/mK)

References:
1. Thermal Conductivity

http://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity

2. List of thermal conductivities

http://e n.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thermal_conductivities

Greetings Mad Science Questioner:

In the meter (m), kilogram, second units of measurement, temperatures are usually measured in degrees
Celsius (^oC) or degrees Kelvin (^oK). Although the zero temperature is different for Celsius and Kelvin,
a change of one degree K is equal to a change of one degree C.

The amount of heat energy in a material is measured in watts (W).
Conduction in a material is a function of the materials properties and the change in the properties caused
by the internal or external heating of the material.

You probably are not familiar with units to the power minus 1: For example, amperes per volt (A/V),
can also be written as amperes times volts to the power minus 1 (A*V−1).

For general scientific use, thermal conductivity is the quantity of heat in Watts (W) that passes in unit
time (usually per second) through a plate of particular area (in square meters ( m^2) ) and thickness
(in meters (m)) when its opposite faces differ in temperature by one degree kelvin (K).

To answer your question: although the derivation of thermal conductivity is too complex for this note
thermal conductivity is analogous to electrical conductivity which is (A*m−1*V−1) or A/mV thus thermal
conductivity is measured in W*K−1*m−1 or W/K*m.

Reference 1 discusses thermal conductivity.

Reference 2 is a list of the thermal conductivity for many materials.

Thank you for your interesting question.

Your Mad Scientist

Adrian Popa