Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity indicates the relative ease of transfer of heat by conduction. It is measured as the quantity of heat conducted through unit thickness, across a unit area, for a unit difference of temperature. Values are reported in joules per meter per second per kelvin, J/(m s K), as measured at 25°C.

One problem with thermal conductivity data is that certain crystalline samples are anisotropic--the conductivity depends on the direction. Because of this, only values from amorphous or polycrystalline samples are reported.

Thermal Conductivities of the elements were taken from the 15th edition of LANGE'S HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY, J.A. Dean, Ed., McGraw-Hill, 1999. Data from LANGE'S HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY was collected online at:

http://www.knovel.com/knovel2/Toc.jsp?SpaceID=10093&BookID=47 (accessed July, 2002)