Thermal conduction

Thermal conduction is the transfer of heat internal energy by microscopic collisions of particles and movement of electrons within a body. The microscopically colliding particles, that include molecules, atoms and electrons, transfer disorganized microscopic kinetically and potential energy, jointly known as internal energy. Conduction takes place in all phases of including solids, liquids, gases and waves. The rate at which energy is conducted as heat between two bodies is a function of the temperature difference temperature gradient between the two bodies and the properties of the conductive through which the heat is transferred. Thermal conduction is the transfer of heat internal energy by microscopic collisions of particles and movement of electrons within a body. The microscopically colliding particles, that include molecules, atoms and electrons, transfer disorganized microscopic kinetically and potential energy, jointly known as internal energy. Conduction takes place in all phases of including solids, liquids, gases and waves. The rate at which energy is conducted as heat between two bodies is a function of the temperature difference temperature gradient between the two bodies and the properties of the conductive through which the heat is transferred. Heat spontaneously flows from a hotter to a colder body. For example, heat is conducted from the hotplate of an electric stove to the bottom of a saucepan in contact with it. In the absence of an external driving energy source to the contrary, within a body or between bodies, temperature differences decay over time, and thermal equilibrium is approached, temperature becoming more uniform. In conduction, the heat flow is within and through the body itself. In contrast, in heat transfer by thermal radiation, the transfer is often between bodies, which may be separated spatially. Also possible is transfer of heat by a combination of conduction and thermal radiation. In convection, internal energy is carried between bodies by a moving material carrier. In solids, conduction is mediated by the combination of vibrations and collisions of molecules, of propagation and collisions of phonons, and of diffusion and collisions of free electrons. In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the collisions and diffusion of molecules during their random motion. Photons in this context do not collide with one another, and so heat transport by electromagnetic radiation is conceptually distinct from heat conduction by microscopic diffusion and collisions of material particles and phonons. But the distinction is often not easily observed, unless the material is semi-transparent. In the engineering sciences, heat transfer includes the processes of thermal radiation, convection, and sometimes mass transfer. Usually, more than one of these processes occurs in a given situation. The conventional symbol for thermal conductivity is k. On a microscopic scale, conduction occurs within a body considered as being stationary; this means that the kinetic and potential energies of the bulk motion of the body are separately accounted for. Internal energy diffuses as rapidly moving or vibrating atoms and molecules interact with neighbouring particles, transferring some of their microscopic kinetic and potential energies, these quantities being defined relative to the bulk of the body considered as being stationary. Heat is transferred by conduction when adjacent atoms or molecules collide, or as several electrons move backwards and forwards from atom to atom in a disorganized way so as not to form a macroscopic electric current, or as photons collide and scatter. Conduction is the most significant means of heat transfer within a solid or between solid objects in thermal contact. Conduction is greater in solids because the network of relatively close fixed spatial relationships between atoms helps to transfer energy between them by vibration. Thermal contact conductance is the study of heat conduction between solid bodies in contact. A temperature drop is often observed at the interface between the two surfaces in contact. This phenomenon is said to be a result of a thermal contact resistance existing between the contacting surfaces. Interfacial thermal resistance is a measure of an interface's resistance to thermal flow. This thermal resistance differs from contact resistance, as it exists even at atomically perfect interfaces. Understanding the thermal resistance at the interface between two materials is of primary significance in the study of its thermal properties. Interfaces often contribute significantly to the observed properties of the materials. The inter-molecular transfer of energy could be primarily by elastic impact, as in fluids, or by free electron diffusion, as in metals, or phonon vibration, as in insulators. In insulators, the heat flux is carried almost entirely by phonon vibrations. Metals (e.g., copper, platinum, gold, etc.) are usually good conductors of thermal energy. This is due to the way that metals bond chemically: metallic bonds (as opposed to covalent or ionic bonds) have free-moving electrons that transfer thermal energy rapidly through the metal. The electron fluid of a conductive metallic solid conducts most of the heat flux through the solid. Phonon flux is still present, but carries less of the energy. Electrons also conduct electric current through conductive solids, and the thermal and electrical conductivities of most metals have about the same ratio. 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. In gases, heat transfer occurs through collisions of gas molecules with one another. In the absence of convection, which relates to a moving fluid or gas phase, thermal conduction through a gas phase is highly dependent on the composition and pressure of this phase, and in particular the mean free path of gas molecules relative to the size of the gas gap, as given by the Knudsen number K n {displaystyle K_{n}} .