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 measurement thermal transport properties of the material. By recording temperature vs. time response in the sensor, the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity of the material can be calculated. For highly conducting materials, very large samples are needed (some litres of volume). A variation of the above method is the Modified Transient Plane Source Method (MTPS) developed by Dr. Nancy Mathis. The device uses a one-sided, interfacial, heat reflectance sensor that applies a momentary, constant heat source to the sample. The difference between this method and traditional transient plane source technique described above is that the heating element is