In the history of human civilization, the role of copper cannot be exaggerated. It was with her that a person began to master metallurgy, learned to create tools, utensils, jewelry, money. And all thanks to the unique properties of this metal, manifested in the alloy with other substances. Now soft, then durable, then refractory, it melts without any effort. It has many excellent characteristics, and one of them is the thermal conductivity of copper.
If we are talking about this characteristic, then we need to explain what we are talking about. Thermal conductivity is the ability of a substance to transfer heat from a heated area to a cold one. So, the thermal conductivity of copper is one of the highest among metals. How can one evaluate a property as good or as bad?
If you ask cooks and cooks, they will say how good it is, so that copper utensils transfer heat from the fire to the cooked product in the best way, and the heat is evenly distributed over the surface in contact with the flame.
Of course, other metals, and not only metals, transfer heat, or, in another way, have sufficient thermal conductivity, but for copper this ability is one of the best, the so-called thermal conductivity of copper is the highest, higher only for silver.
The noted ability provides ample opportunities for the use of metal in a variety of areas. In any heat transfer system, copper is the first candidate for use. For example, in electric heating devices or in a car radiator, where a heated coolant gives off excess heat.
Now we can try to understand what caused the effect of heat transfer. What is happening is explained quite simply. A uniform distribution of energy occurs over the volume of the material. An analogy can be drawn with volatile gas. Once in a closed vessel, such a gas takes up all the space available to it. So here, if the metal is heated in a particular area, then the resulting energy is evenly distributed throughout the material.
This phenomenon can explain the thermal conductivity of copper. Without going into quantum physics, we can say that due to the external supply of energy (heating), some of the atoms receive additional energy and then transfer it to other atoms. Energy (heating) is distributed throughout the entire volume of the object, causing its general heating. A similar thing happens with any substance.
The only difference is that copper, whose thermal conductivity is very high, transfers heat well, while other substances do the same much worse. But in many cases, this may be a necessary property. Thermal insulation is based on the property of substances to conduct heat poorly, due to poor heat transfer there is no loss of heat. Thermal insulation in houses allows you to maintain comfortable living conditions in the most severe frosts.
The exchange of energy, or, as in our case, the transfer of heat, can occur between different materials, if they are in physical contact. This is what happens when we put the kettle on fire. It heats up, and then the water heats up from the dishes. Due to the properties of the material, heat transfer occurs . Heat transfer depends on many factors, including the properties of the material itself, such as its purity. So, if the thermal conductivity of copper is better than that of other metals, then its alloys, bronze and brass already have much worse thermal conductivity.
Speaking about these properties, it should be noted that thermal conductivity depends on temperature. Even in purest copper, with a content of 99.8%, the thermal conductivity decreases with increasing temperature, while in other metals, for example, manganese brass, the coefficient increases with increasing temperature.
In the above description, an explanation of such a concept as thermal conductivity is given, the physical essence of the phenomenon is explained, some examples of the application of these properties in everyday life are considered on the example of copper and other substances.