Re: How do metals and alloys conducts heat?

Christian,

Thanks for writing. The answer to your question can be really complex, so I'm not exactly sure what kind of information you're looking for. There can be some pretty heavy chemistry, math, and physics involved in understanding HOW materials actually conduct heat and HOW MUCH heat they will actually conduct. But I'll see what I can do.

My "Bible" of heat transfer is a book from my college class on heat transfer. It's simply titled "Heat Transfer" and it has a lot of information about different materials and their thermal properties. You may want to start a little simpler though, and look for an high school level book on chemistry or physics. The physics book is more likely to be able to help you perform heat transfer calculations (like how much heat and how fast will different metals conduct heat) and the chemistry book will hopefully help you understand why one metal conducts heat better than another. If you write back with a more specific question, I may be able to help you as well.

Now here's some simple answers to a couple of your questions. First, a hanger is likely to be made of iron. This is a pretty safe assumption because iron is strong enough to do the simple job of hanging clothes, and it is very inexpensive for such a cheap item such as a hanger. And here are a few numbers for the thermal conductivity of some common materials. The units are BTU per hour per foot per degree F. Because the amount of thermal energy (BTU) transfered depends on how much time, how long of a distance, and the temperature difference. The metric units for thermal conductivity are Watts per meter per degree C. And for your information, all metals conduct heat, but some do it better than others. Here are some numbers:

I hope this helps you. Please feel free to write back if you have a more specific question that you need answered. Good luck on your science project!

Your Mad Scientist,
Mike Scannell