Thermal conductivity electrons. In this case the mean velocity is the Fermi velocity which is temperature independent. The mean free path is determined by the impurities and the crystal imperfections which are temperature independent as well. So the only temperature-dependent quantity is the heat capacity "c", which, in this case, is proportional to "T". So with "k" a constant. For pure metals such as copper, silver, etc. "l" is large, so the thermal conductivity is high. At higher temperatures the mean free path is limited by the phonons, so the thermal conductivity tends to decrease with temperature. In alloys the density of
Thermal conductivity reciprocal of thermal conductivity is called thermal resistivity. The general equation for thermal conductivity is formula_1, where formula_2 is the heat flux, formula_3 is the thermal conductivity and formula_4 is the temperature gradient. In the International System of Units (SI), thermal conductivity is measured in watts per meter-kelvin (W/(m⋅K)). Some papers report in watts per centimeter-kelvin (W/(cm⋅K)). In imperial units, thermal conductivity is measured in BTU/(hr⋅ft⋅°F). The dimension of thermal conductivity is MLTΘ, expressed in terms of the dimensions mass (M), length (L), time (T), and temperature (Θ). Other units which are closely related to the thermal conductivity are in