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?
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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.
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