What is thermal conductivity?

It is the ability of the material to conduct heat.

How can we measure conductivity?
We use an electric heater of known power rating. We attach the material whose conductivity is to be
tested to that heater. Then we wait for the steady state conditions to reach. At steady state the two surfaces
(surface attached to heater and surface at other end) heater of the material have constant temperature with
respect to time. We measure those temperatures. Now we have the temperature difference, the area, the
thickness and we know the heat transfer rate which is nothing but the power rating of the electric heater.
How thermal conductivity is measured practically?

What is the conductivity of copper, iron, aluminum?

First always say at room temperature the conductivity of
Now the conductivity of silver-429, copper-401, iron-80, aluminium-237, diamond-2300
How conduction heat transfer takes place in gases?
Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energies of the particles such as the molecules or atoms of a
substance. In a liquid or gas, the kinetic energy of the molecules is due to their random translational
motion as well as their vibrational and rotational motions. When two molecules possessing different
kinetic energies collide, part of the kinetic energy of the more energetic (higher-temperature) molecule is
transferred to the less energetic (lower temperature) molecule, much the same as when two elastic balls of
the same mass at different velocities collide, part of the kinetic energy of the faster ball is transferred to
the slower one. The higher the temperature, the faster the molecules move and the higher the number of
such collisions, and the better the heat transfer.
Conductivity is a transport property. What do you mean by a transport property?
Transport property is a property which relates flux to the potential causing that flux. Other examples are
viscosity, which relates stress flux to the rate of hear deformation and diffusion coefficient.
Explain how radiation takes place.
Radiation is a volumetric phenomenon and occurs due to change in the electronic configurations of the
atoms or molecules. For opaque solids, the radiation emitted from the bulk cannot reach the surface and is
attenuated. Hence for opaque solids, thermal radiation is a surface phenomenon.

State the conditions for a linear temperature profile in a wall across its length.
Steady state conditions (which means constant rate of heat conduction), constant area of cross-section,
thermal conductivity independent of temperature or constant and no heat generation in the wall.
On what parameters do the thermal contact resistance depends and
It depends on surface roughness, temperature and pressure, material type and very importantly on the type
of fluid present in the interface. To reduce contact resistance thermal grease like silicon oil, glycerin,
gases other than air of higher thermal conductivity like hydrogen, helium etc. and using thin layers of
softer metals like tin, copper, silver, aluminum can be used between contacting surfaces. Smooth surfaces
and higher contact pressure also reduces contact resistance.
What is the principle of working of thermocouples?
Thermocouples work on the principle of Seebeck Effect. It states that when two dissimilar metallic wires
are connected to each other and their two junctions are kept at two different temperatures, a potential
difference is generated and the current flows. This current is proportional to voltage which is proportional
to temperature difference. The hotter end has higher potential than the colder end.
Differentiate between equilibrium and steady state.
These words are very often used in place of one another but that is wrong. Equilibrium is attained in
thermal sense when the two bodies in contact (physical like fluids or solids) attain same temperature and
pressure while for steady state conditions temperature must be constant with respect to time even though
there is temperature difference as in case of steady state plane wall for example.
What is physical significance of time constant?
Time constant proportionately indicates the time a body takes to reach the temperature of its
surroundings. Larger the time constant, more will be the time taken by body to cool or heat (we design the
risers for this working and requirement) while smaller the time constant, lesser will be the time taken by
body to cool or heat and come in steady conditions with surroundings (we design the bulbs of
thermometers for this requirement, doctors tells to keep the thermometer for 30-40 seconds in mouth for
correct reading is for this reason only such that the bulb takes that much time to attain the temperature of
the body).
Is Biot number less than 0.1 is the fundamental condition for a system (not body) to be treated as
lumped?
First thing first, I have said system in question instead of body because lumped system is the analysis
of body and its surrounding and not only body. A given body can be treated as lumped in certain
conditions and not in other. So body is never lumped, it is the system which is lumped.
Now to answer the question above, it is wrong. Biot number less than 0.1 is not the fundamental
condition for lumped system analysis. The fundamental condition is the uniform temperature in the body
at all points to be maintained. It can be made possible for a body to have uniform temperature even if its
Biot number is more than 0.1, For example, if milk is stirred slowly in a glass its possible to have
uniform temperature at all points in milk in glass even though the Biot number may or may not be more
than 0.1.
What is the advantage of using thermal symmetry (as in plane wall with same boundary conditions
on two sides)?
If the problem has thermal symmetry, we can compute the temperatures at half side of the object. The
other half side temperature need not be calculated because the body is thermally symmetric. This reduces
memory requirements of computers in computational methods.

Even while solving unsteady state problem we use the boundary condition that conduction heat
transferred to boundary of body is equal to the convective heat transferred from body. Is there an
inconsistency?
No, there is no inconsistency. This boundary condition we normally use for steady state heat transfer but
it is valid for unsteady state also because surface does not store any energy.