Thermal Conductivity: A Small Apparatus to Introduce the Concept

摘要

Thermal conductivity is important in electronic applications, especially in the miniaturized devices in use today, because the material used to move heat away from the device, and avoids any damage or malfunction that would arise if the device is heated in excess of its operating temperature. Sometimes one does not want heat to travel to other part of the device, and uses a heat sink. Another important application is in the space industry, where one wants to keep the area where people are at room temperature while the outside of the ship is either at very cold temperatures (like in an airplane) or at very high temperatures (like in the shuttle). In this experiment, the students will measure the thermal conductivity of three materials, aluminum, copper and glass. Using Al as reference, they will measure the power dissipated dQ/dt across the slab based on the rate of change of temperature as a function of position. The students then will estimate the heat transfer, dQ at specific time intervals, dt, for Al. Based on the number they obtain for Al, they will calculate the thermal conductivity and heat transfer for glass and Cu.