To measure thermal conductivity, two similar 1-cm-thick specimens are placed in an apparatus shown in the accompanying sketch. Electric current is supplied to the 6-cm by 6-cm guarded heater, and a wattmeter shows that the power dissipation is 10 watts (W). Thermocouples attached to the warmer and to the cooler surfaces show temperatures of 322 and 300 K, respectively. Calculate the thermal conductivity of the material at the mean temperature in W/(m K).

GIVEN

Thermal conductivity measurement apparatus with two samples as shown

Sample thickness (L) = 1 cm = 0.01 cm

Area = 6 cm ? 6 cm = 36 cm2 = 0.0036 m2

Power dissipation rate of the heater (qh) = 10 W

Surface temperatures

Thot = 322 K

Tcold = 300 K

FIND

The thermal conductivity of the sample at the mean temperature in W/(m K)

ASSUMPTIONS

One dimensional, steady state conduction

No heat loss from the edges of the apparatus

SKETCH


By conservation of energy, the heat loss through the two specimens must equal the power dissipation

of the heater. Therefore the heat transfer through one of the specimens is qh/2.

For one dimensional, steady state conduction.



Solving for the thermal conductivity

Physics & Space Science

You might also like to view...

When you document the time and place of a meteorite as it streams through the atmosphere, it is considered a(n) ____

a. fall b. find c. meteoroid d. chondrite e. impactor

Physics & Space Science

A particle moving with a constant acceleration has a velocity of 20 cm/s when its position is x = 10 cm. Its position 7.0 s later is x = ?30 cm. What is the acceleration of the particle?

a. ?7.3 cm/s2 b. ?8.9 cm/s2 c. ?11 cm/s2 d. ?15 cm/s2 e. ?13 cm/s2

Physics & Space Science

Two sources emit beams of light of wavelength 550 nm. The light from source A has an intensity of 10 µW/m2, and the light from source B has an intensity of 20 µW/m2. This is all we know about the two beams

Which of the following statements about these beams are correct? (There could be more than one correct choice.) A) Beam B carries twice as many photons per second as beam A. B) A photon in beam B has twice the energy of a photon in beam A. C) The frequency of the light in beam B is twice as great as the frequency of the light in beam A. D) A photon in beam B has the same energy as a photon in beam A. E) None of the above statements are true.

Physics & Space Science

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is 8.7 ly from the Sun. Determine Sirius' declination and right ascension

Physics & Space Science