Thermal conductivity of copper. Wonderful property

In the history of human civilization, the role of copper is impossible to exaggerate. It was with her that a man began to master metallurgy, learned to create tools, dishes, ornaments, money. And all thanks to the unique properties of this metal, manifested during the alloy with other substances. That soft, then strong, then refractory, it melts without any effort. It has many excellent characteristics, and one of them is the thermal conductivity of copper.

If we are talking about this characteristic, then we need to clarify what is at stake. Thermal conductivity refers to the ability of a substance to transfer heat from a heated area to a cold one. So, the thermal conductivity of copper is one of the highest among metals. How can you assess such a property as good or bad?

If you ask cooks and cooks, they will say how good, thanks to which the copper dishes best transfer heat from the fire to the cooking product, and the heating is evenly distributed over the surface in contact with the flame.

Of course, other metals, and not only metals, transmit heat, or, in other words, have sufficient thermal conductivity, but this ability is one of the best in copper, the so-called coefficient of thermal conductivity of copper is the highest, higher only for silver.

The marked ability provides wide possibilities of use of metal in the most different areas. In any heat exchange systems, copper is the first candidate for use. For example, in electric heating appliances or in a car radiator, where the heated coolant gives off excess heat.

Now you can try to understand what causes the effect of heat transfer. The explanation is quite simple. There is a uniform energy distribution over the volume of the material. You can draw an analogy with the volatile gas. Once in a closed vessel, this gas takes up all the space available to it. So here, if the metal is heated in some particular area, then the energy obtained is evenly distributed throughout the material.

This phenomenon can explain the thermal conductivity of copper. Without going into quantum physics, we can say that due to the external input of energy (heating), some atoms get additional energy and then transfer it to other atoms. Energy (heating) spreads throughout the volume of the object, causing its general heating. This happens with any substance.

The only difference is that copper, whose heat conductivity is very high, transfers heat well, and other substances do the same thing much worse. But in many cases, this can be a necessary property. The property of substances is poorly conduct heat based insulation, due to bad heat transfer does not occur its loss. Thermal insulation in homes allows you to maintain comfortable living conditions in the harshest frosts.

The exchange of energy, or, as in our case, the transfer of heat, can also occur between different materials, if they are in physical contact. This is exactly what happens when we put the kettle on fire. It heats up, and then water is heated from the dishes. Due to the properties of the material, heat transfer takes place. Heat transfer depends on many factors, including the properties of the material itself, such as its purity. So, if the thermal conductivity of copper is better than that of other metals, then its alloys, bronze and brass have a much worse thermal conductivity.

Speaking of these properties, it should be noted that the thermal conductivity depends on temperature. Even in the purest copper, with a content of 99.8%, with increasing temperature the coefficient of thermal conductivity decreases, while for other metals, for example, manganese brass, the coefficient increases with increasing temperature.

In the above description, an explanation is given of such a concept as thermal conductivity, the physical essence of the phenomenon is explained, on the example of copper and other substances, certain applications of these properties are considered in everyday life.