Research

Conduction is the transfer of energy in the form of heat or electricity from one atom to another within
an object by direct contact. Conduction occurs in solids, liquids, and gases. However, solids transfer
energy most efficiently since the molecules in solids are most tightly packed, and the molecules are
closer together, as shown in this figure. For liquids and gases, the density of the particles are generally
lower than those of solids and the particles are farther apart, so the energy transfer is less efficient.

Conductivity, in general, is the capacity to transmit something, such as electricity or

heat.

Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in
materials of high thermal conductivity. Correspondingly, materials of high thermal
conductivity are widely used in heat sink applications and materials of low thermal
conductivity are used as thermal insulation. The thermal conductivity of a material may
depend on temperature. The reciprocal of thermal conductivity is called thermal resistivity.
Thermal conductivity is important in material science, research, electronics, building
insulation and related fields, especially where high operating temperatures are achieved.
Several materials are shown in the list of thermal conductivities. These should be
considered approximate due to the uncertainties related to material definitions.
First, let me explain why metals generally conduct heat better than other
solids do. In metals, some of the electrons (often one per atom) are not
stuck to individual atoms but flow freely among the atoms. Of course, that's
why metals are such good conductors of electricity. Now if one end of a bar
is hot, and the other is cold, the electrons on the hot end have a little more
thermal energy- random jiggling- than the ones on the cold end. So as the
electrons wander around, they carry energy from the hot end to the cold
end, which is another way of saying they conduct heat.

Of course, how fast they conduct heat depends a lot on things like how
many free electrons are around, on how fast they move, and especially on
how far they usually go before they bump into something and change
direction. Those are the same factors that determine how well the metal
conducts electricity. So there's a rule that works very well, saying that the
thermal conductivity of a metal (at some temperature) is proportional to the
electrical conductivity. That's convenient because it's much easier to
measure electrical conductivity than thermal conductivity.

So now I'll get a little closer to answering your question. The biggest factor
giving different conductivities for ordinary metals is the difference in how far
the electrons go before they hit something. It turns out, for amazing
reasons connected with the wave nature of electrons, that they can flow
right through a perfect crystal without bouncing, the same way light travels
through a clear crystal. Lots of metals (stainless steel, brass, etc) are alloys
of several elements, and the electrons bounce off all the irregularities in the
arrangement of the different atoms. So those aren't good conductors. Even
in a pure metal, the electrons still bounce some, because the thermal
jiggling of the atoms keeps them from ever forming a perfectly exact crystal
arrangement.

Band theory, in solid-state physics, theoretical model describing the states

of electrons, in solidmaterials, that can have values of energy only within certain
specific ranges.
A variety of ranges of allowed and forbidden bands is found in pure elements, alloys,
and compounds. Three distinct groups are usually described: metals, insulators, and
semiconductors. In metals, forbidden bands do not occur in the energy range of the
most energetic (outermost) electrons. Accordingly, metals are good electrical
conductors. Insulatorshave wide forbidden energy gaps that can be crossed only by
an electron having an energy of several electron volts. Because electrons cannot
move freely in the presence of an applied voltage, insulators are poor
conductors. Semiconductors have relatively narrow forbidden gaps—which can be
crossed by an electron having an energy of roughly one electron volt—and so are
intermediate conductors.