What is the relation between the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of a substance?

Answer 1

q=c*m*delta T,

where q is the thermal conductivity,
c is specific heat capacity of the substance=energy to be supplied to raise 1 gm of the substance's temperature by 1 deg.K.
m is the mass of the substance,
delta T is the temperature difference between the substance and the surrounding.
though specific heat capacity is a constant it will vary depending on temperature of substance.

Answer 2

Specific Heat And Thermal Conductivity

Answer 3

Specific heat, heat capacity and thermal conductivity are three different entities. Specific heat is the amount of heat say calories required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree celcius..Its heat capacity is the heat contained in it. Body's temperature and its mass comes in picture. All these have nothing to do with thermal conductivity which is a measure of how fast heat energy can pass or travel thru the body.

Answer 4

The Specific Heat Capacity is the amount of heat required to change a unit mass of a substance by one degree in temperature. The heat supplied to a unit mass can be expressed as

dQ = m c dt (1)

where

dQ = heat supplied (kJ, Btu)

m = mass (kg, lb)

c = Specific Heat Capacity (kJ/kgoC, Btu/lboF)

dt = temperature change (oC, oF)

Expressing Specific Heat Capacity using (1)

c = dQ / m dt (1b)

where as

Thermal conductivity, k, is the intensive property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat.

It is defined as the quantity of heat, Q, transmitted in time t through a thickness L, in a direction normal to a surface of area A, due to a temperature difference ΔT, under steady state conditions and when the heat transfer is dependent only on the temperature gradient.

thermal conductivity = heat flow rate × distance / (area × temperature difference)
K=(Q / t)*(L / A*ΔT)

Answer 5

Generally, heat is a form of energy transfer associated with the different motion of atoms, molecules and other particles that comprise matter when it's hot and when it's cold. The amount of heat that has to be transferred to or from an object when its temperatur varies by one degree is called heat capacity.
In physics, thermal conductivity, k, is the intensive property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat.

Answer 6

This is actually a follow up question, for anyone who'd care to answer it.

If one is looking for a good building material that will store the day's solar heat and release it by night, should one look for high thermal conductivity, or low thermal conductivity, or something in between?

Answer 7

The heat capacity is more dependent on the substances mass; the thermal conductivity is more dependent on the molecular and atomic composition.

Answer 8

Specific heat capacity is how much energy is necessary to raise a material one unit of temperture (BTU/degree).
Thermal conductivity is the ability of a material to pass thermal energy. Insulation has low thermal conductivity. Normally a material with high specific heat capacity is dense, so it also will pass energy easily, giving it a high thrmal conductivity.

Answer 9

So far, your best answer is from shipman824. There's one problem with the specific heat part of that answer.

This is better:
Specific heat capacity is how much energy is necessary to raise one unit weight (or mass) of the material one unit of temperture (BTU/pound_degree F)(cal/gram_degree C).

The definition of the BTU and calorie are based on heating water, so the specific heat of various materials are as compared to water. Water's specific heat is 1.0000 in both the BTU and calorie system. That of aluminum is 0.219. So you can raise the temperature 5 degrees of an amount, mass or weight, of aluminum with about 1/5 th of the heat required for an equal amount of water.

Answer 10

http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/trol/dictunit/notes5.htm