Thermal conductivity the list of thermal conductivities. These should be considered approximate due to the uncertainties related to material definitions. High energy generation rates within electronics or turbines require the use of materials with high thermal conductivity such as copper "(see: Copper in heat exchangers)", aluminium, and silver. On the other hand, materials with low thermal conductance, such as polystyrene foam and fire brick, are used in building construction or in furnaces in an effort to slow the flow of heat, i.e. for insulation purposes. The reciprocal of thermal conductivity is "thermal resistivity", usually expressed in kelvin-meters per watt (K⋅m⋅W). For a
Thermal conductivity measurement a heater or temperature sensor element. By having strong thermal insulation surrounding the diode, heat escapes only through an exposed cooling tab, which is used as the probe for the thermal interface material measurements. This method shares similarities with the ASTM D5470 standard, such as the measurement of the thermal resistance at different material thickness levels. The system is designed to measure high thermal conductivity thermal interface materials. Its applicability for the measurement of insulators is more limited. A thermal conductance tester, one of the instruments of gemology, determines if gems are genuine diamonds using diamond's uniquely high thermal conductivity.