I just used a hotpad to pull something out of the oven. The hotpad was a bit wet, and as such, the hotpad was not effective at insulating the heat from the baking tray. This caused an ‘aha’ moment for me, as most things that conduct heat also seem to conduct electricity. There must be a realtionship between the two.
Is there a relationship between the two? And if so, how are they related?
In: 5
Materials which are good at conducting electricity tend to have lots of free electrons which are able to move around. This is the case in most metals for example. The structure of a solid metal is typically described as a lattice of fixed metal ions, which are surrounded by a ‘sea’ of electrons which can move freely between them.
All these free electrons are very good at transferring electricity, but they are also very good at transferring heat. So most good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat.
[deleted]
It’s mostly a fluke and based on things we have experience with in our daily lives. Namely metal. Metal has properties that make it great at both, but lots of other less common materials have only one.
Many of things are thermally conductive but great insulators, like oils. Ceramics. Pure water.
You can make things that are super eclectically conductive, like copper, into an insulator by making into a foam with lots of bubbles air or even better, a vacuum.
If you ignore metals you might find there is very little relation between the two.
Latest Answers