thermal conductivity

American  

noun

Physics.

1. 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.

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thermal conductivity British  

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: conductivity.   λ.   k.  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 kelvin

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thermal conductivity Scientific  

1. 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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Example Sentences

As electrical conductivity rose, thermal conductivity dropped, and vice versa.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

However, MOFs typically exhibit low thermal conductivity, making them poor thermal conductors.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2024

To maximize the high thermal conductivity of diamond, the researchers integrated a 3C-SiC layer, a cubic polytype of silicon carbide, between GaN and diamond.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

Diamond, which has the highest thermal conductivity of all natural materials, is an ideal substrate material but has not yet been put to practical use due to the difficulties of bonding diamond to GaN elements.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

The electrical conductivity of crystals also varies with the direction, and bears the same relation to the symmetry as the thermal conductivity.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various