R

Thermal and electrical conductivity of metals LEP

3.5.02

Related topics Immers.heater, 300 W, 220-250VDC/AC 05947.93 1

Electrical conductivity, Wiedmann-Franz law, Lorenz number, Temperature meter digital, 4-2 13617.93 1
diffusion, temperature gradient, heat transport, specific heat, Temperature probe, immers. type 11759.01 1
four-point measurement Surface temperature probe PT100 11759.02 2
Stopwatch, digital, 1/100 sec. 03071.01 1
Tripod base -PASS- 02002.55 1
Principle and task Bench clamp -PASS- 02010.00 1
The thermal conductivity of copper and aluminium is deter- Support rod -PASS-, square, l 630 mm 02027.55 1
mined in a constant temperature gradient from the calorimet- Support rod -PASS-, square, l 1000 mm 02028.55 1
rically measured heat flow. Universal clamp 37715.00 4
The electrical conductivity of copper and aluminium is deter- Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55 6
mined, and the Wiedmann-Franz law is tested. Supporting block 1053105357 mm 02073.00 1
Glass beaker, short, 400 ml 36014.00 1
Multitap transf., 14VAC/12VDC, 5A 13533.93 1
Equipment Digital multimeter 07134.00 2
Universal measuring amplifier 13626.93 1
Calorimeter vessel, 500 ml 04401.10 1
Connecting cord, 500 mm, red 07361.01 4
Calor. vessel w. heat conduct. conn. 04518.10 1
Connecting cord, 500 mm, blue 07361.04 4
Heat conductivity rod, Cu 04518.11 1
Heat conductivity rod, Al 04518.12 1
Magn. stirrer, mini, controlable 35712.93 1
Heat conductive paste, 50 g 03747.00 1 Problems
Gauze bag 04408.00 1 1. Determine the heat capacity of the calorimeter in a mixture
Rheostat, 10 Ohm , 5.7 A 06110.02 1 experiment as a preliminary test. Measure the calefaction
of water at a temperature of 0 °C in a calorimeter due to the
action of the ambient temperature as a function of time.
2. To begin with, establish a constant temperature gradient in
a metal rod with the use of two heat reservoirs (boiling
water and ice water) After removing the pieces of ice,
Fig. 1a: Experimental set-up for thermal conductivity.
measure the calefaction of the cold water as a function of
time and determine the thermal conductivity of the metal
rod.
3. Determine the electrical conductivity of copper and alumin-
ium by recording a current-voltage characteristic line.
4. Test of the Wiedmann-Franz law.

Set-up and procedure

1. Measurement of the heat capacity of the lower calorimeter
• Weigh the calorimeter at room temperature.
• Measure and record the room temperature and the tem-
perature of the preheated water provided.
• After filling the calorimeter with hot water, determine the
mixing temperature in the calorimeter.
• Reweigh the calorimeter to determine the mass of the
water that it contains.
• Calculate the heat capacity of the calorimeter.
• Determine the influence of the heat of the surroundings
on the calefaction of the water (0 °C without pieces of ice)
by measuring the temperature change in a 30-minute
period.

2. Determination of the thermal conductivity

• Perform the experimental set-up according to Fig. 1.
• Weigh the empty, lower calorimeter.
• Insert the insulated end of the metal rod into the upper
calorimeter vessel. To improve the heat transfer, cover
the end of the metal rod with heat-conduction paste.
• Attach the metal rod to the support stand in such a man-
ner that the lower calorimeter can be withdrawn from
beneath it.

PHYWE series of publications • Laboratory Experiments • Physics • PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH • 37070 Göttingen, Germany 23502 1
 R

LEP
Thermal and electrical conductivity of metals
3.5.02

• The height of the lower calorimeter can be changed with • Weigh the water-filled calorimeter and determine the
the aid of the supporting block. When doing so, care mass of the water. Settings of the temperature measuring
must be taken to ensure that the non-insulated end of the device 4-2:
rod remains completely immersed in the cold water dur- – In the first display on the measuring device, the tem-
ing the experiment. perature of the lower calorimeter is displayed.
• The surface temperature probe must be positioned as – In the second display, the differential measurement
close to the rod as possible. between the upper and the lower surface probe is
shown.
• The outermost indentations on the rod (separation:
• The thermal conductivity of different metals can be deter-
31.5 cm) are used to measure the temperature difference
mined from the measuring results.
in the rod. To improve the heat transfer between the rod
and the surface probe, use heat-conduction paste.
3. Measurement of the electrical conductivity.
• Using an immersion heater, bring the water in the upper • Perform the experimental set-up according to the circuit
calorimeter to a boil, and keep it at this temperature. diagram in Fig. 2 (set-up in accordance with a 4-conduc-
• Ensure that the upper calorimeter is well filled to avoid a tor measuring method).
drop in temperature due to contingent refilling with water. • Set the voltage on the variable transformer to 6 V.
• Keep the water in the lower calorimeter at 0 °C with the • The amplifier must calibrated to 0 in a voltage-free state
help of ice (in a gauze pouch). to avoid a collapse of the output voltage.
• The measurement can be begun when a constant tem- • Select the amplifier settings as follows:
perature gradient has become established between the Input: Low Drift
upper and lower surface probes, i. e. when no changes Amplification: 104
occur during the differential measurement. Time Constant: 0
• At the onset of measurement, remove the ice from the • Set the rheostat to its maximum value and slowly
lower calorimeter. decrease the value during the experiment.
• Measure and record the change in the differential tem- • Read and note the values for current and voltage
perature and the temperature of the water in the lower • The resistance, and thus the electrical conductivity, can
calorimeter for a period of 5 minutes. be determined from the measured values.

Fig. 1b: Experimental set-up for electrical conductivity.

2 23502 PHYWE series of publications • Laboratory Experiments • Physics • PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH • 37070 Göttingen, Germany
 R

Thermal and electrical conductivity of metals LEP

3.5.02

Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Diagram: Heat of surroundings over time.

Al/Cu

Theory and evaluation 1. The heat capacity of the calorimeter is obtained from
If a temperature difference exists between different locations results of the mixing experiment and the following formula:
of a body, heat conduction occurs. In this experiment there is qW – qM
a one-dimensional temperature gradient along a rod. The C = cW · mW · (1)
qM – qR
quantity of heat dQ transported with time dt is a function of
the cross-sectional area a and the temperature gradient dT/dx cW = Specific heat capacity of water
perpendicular to the surface. mW = Mass of the water
dQ ­T qW = Temperature of the hot water
= – lA · (1)
dt ­x qM = Mixing temperature
l is the heat conductivity of the substance. qR = Room temperature

The temperature distribution in a body is generally a function The measurement supplies a value of approximately 78 J/K ±
of location and time and is in accordance with the Boltzmann 25 %. The large variations in the results are a result of the
transport equation manner in which the experiment is performed and of the
experimental set-up.
­T l ­2T
5 · (2)
­t r · c ­x2 The addition of heat from the surroundings is calculated from
the temperature increase (T of the cold water in the calorimeter.
Where r is the density and c is the specific heat capacity of
the substance. DQ = (cW · mW + C) · DT
(6)
where DT = T – T0
After a time, a steady state
­T T0 = Temperature at time t = 0
=0 (3)
­x
2. The heat energy supplied to the lower calorimeter can be
is achieved if the two ends of the metal rod having a length l calculated using Equation (6). The values and the change
are maintained at constant temperatures T1 and T2, respec- in the temperature difference on the metal rod are plotted
tively, by two heat reservoirs. as a function of time.

Substituting equation (3) in equation (2), the following equation In the diagram illustrating the temperature difference, one can
is obtained: see that the temperature essentially remains constant.
Consequently, equation 3 can be considered as having been
T2 – T1 satisfied. In order to calculate the heat energy transported by
T (x) = · x + T1 (4) the metal rod according to Equation 1, the ambient heat frac-
l
tion must be subtracted.

dQStab dQges dQUmg

= – (7)
dt dt dt

dQ/dt for the ambient heat can be calculated from the slope
T1 dQ T2 T1 > T2 of the graph in Fig. 3. dQ/dt for the entire set-up can be cal-
culated from the slope of the graph of Q over t in Figs. 4 and
l x 5. With the values for the length of the rod (Dx = 31.5 cm), the
area (A: 4.91 · 10-4 m2) and the averaged temperature on the

PHYWE series of publications • Laboratory Experiments • Physics • PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH • 37070 Göttingen, Germany 23502 3
 R

LEP
Thermal and electrical conductivity of metals
3.5.02

Fig. 4a: DT as function of time for aluminium. Fig. 4b: Q as a function of time for aluminium.

tron vapour (for temperatures above the Debye temperature)

to be:
metal rod, the heat conduction number can be calculated
p2 k2 WΩ
using Equation (1). The following result as the average values: L= · = 2.4 · 10-8 2 (9)
3 e2 K
lAl = 254 W/Km k – Universal gas constant = 1.38 · 10-23 J/K
lCu = 447 W/Km e – Elementary unit charge = 1.602 · 10-19 AS
The literature values are: The electrical conductivity is determined by the resistance R
lAl = 220 W/Km of the rod and its geometric dimensions (l = 0.315 m, A = 4.91
lCu = 384 W/Km 10-4 m2).
l
3. At room temperature the conduction electrons in metal have s= (10)
A·R
a much greater mean free path than the phonons. For this rea-
son heat conduction in metal is primarily due to the electrons. From Equation (8) The following values result for T = 300 K and
the l from the second part of the experiment.
The resulting correlation between the thermal conductivity l
and the electrical conductivity s is established by the R/10-6 Ω s/107 (Ωm)-1 L/10-8 WΩK-2
Wiedmann-Franz law:
AL 19.6 3.27 2.5
l CU 12.04 5.33 2.35
=LT (8)
s
The Debye temperatures of copper and aluminium are 335 K
The Lorenz number L, which can be experimentally deter- and 419 K, respectively. Below the Debye temperature the
mined using Equation (8), is established by the theory of elec- ratio of the conductivity is smaller that given by Equation (8).

Fig. 5a: DT as function of time for copper. Fig. 5b: Q as function of time for copper.

4 23502 PHYWE series of publications • Laboratory Experiments • Physics • PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH • 37070 Göttingen, Germany