thermal conductance

English

Noun

thermal conductance (countable and uncountable, plural thermal conductances)

1. (physics) A measure of the ability of a particular body or assembly to conduct heat.

Usage notes

The heat (thermal energy) flow P_th through a given body depends on the thermal conductance C_th of that body, and the temperature difference ΔT over it, and follows the formula:

$P{_{t}}{_{h}}=C{_{t}}{_{h}}\times \Delta T$

Thus, the higher the conductance, the higher the heat flow. The unit of thermal conductance in SI system of units is W·K⁻¹. For the special case of an ideal plate with area A, thickness d and thermal conductivity λ, the thermal conductance of the plate is:

$C{_{t}}{_{h}}=\lambda \ {\frac {A}{d}}$

The multiplicative inverse of thermal conductance is thermal resistance, denoted as R_th.

Related terms

• thermal conductivity

Translations

measure of the ability of a body to transfer heat

• Finnish: lämpökonduktanssi