thermal conductivity
What thermal conductivity means in Physics GCSE, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of thermal conductivity
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Reference: AQA
A property of a material: brick and glass conduct more readily than foam, mineral wool or trapped air, so a lower value gives a lower rate of energy transfer.
The property that says how readily a material transfers energy by conduction, so a higher value gives a higher rate of energy transfer.
A property of the wall material; a material of lower thermal conductivity slows the transfer and so reduces the cooling rate.
Topics that use thermal conductivity
- Energy transfers in a system (AQA GCSE)
- Power and efficiency (OCR GCSE)
Related terms
- Efficiency
- Lubrication
- Rate of energy transfer
- thermal insulation
- Battery as chemical store versus mains a.c. supply
- comparing insulators
- conduction
- Conservation of energy
Using thermal conductivity in the exam
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