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thermal conductivity

noun Physics.

the amount of heat per unit time per unit area that can be conducted through a plate of unit thickness of a given material, the faces of the plate differing by one unit of temperature.

Nearby words

  1. thermal analysis,
  2. thermal anesthesia,
  3. thermal barrier,
  4. thermal capacity,
  5. thermal conductance,
  6. thermal diffusion,
  7. thermal efficiency,
  8. thermal equator,
  9. thermal equilibrium,
  10. thermal imaging
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for thermal conductivity

thermal conductivity

noun

a measure of the ability of a substance to conduct heat, determined by the rate of heat flow normally through an area in the substance divided by the area and by minus the component of the temperature gradient in the direction of flow: measured in watts per metre per kelvinSymbol: λ, k Sometimes shortened to: conductivity
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for thermal conductivity

thermal conductivity

A measure of the ability of a material to transfer heat. Given two surfaces on either side of the material with a temperature difference between them, the thermal conductivity is the heat energy transferred per unit time and per unit surface area, divided by the temperature difference. It is measured in watts per degree Kelvin.
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