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SECTION ONE
CHAPTER 2
Conduction of Heat
in Solids
John A. Rockett and James A. Milke
Introduction
There are three mechanisms by which heat (thermal
energy) is transferred from one object to another: (1) ra-
diation, (2) convection, and (3) conduction. This chapter
addresses both heat conduction and the historic develop-
ment of heat conduction theory.1–5
Before discussing heat conduction, it is useful to con-
sider the heat content of an object; that is, the property of
the object subject to movement by conduction. The heat
content of an object, Q, and its temperature are closely
linked. When the heat content of one gram of water at 0°C
is increased by one calorie, its temperature increases one
degree Celsius. Heat content is associated with the kinetic
energy of vibration of the atomic particles of which an ob-
ject is composed. Since at absolute zero temperature all mo-
tion stops, heat content is zero at zero (absolute)
temperature. In metals, where there are free electrons
(those electrons not localized on a particular atom, but free
to move through the crystal lattice), some of the heat con-
tent is associated with this electron ‘’gas.” In all materials
the atoms vibrate about their average position in the crystal
lattice. Atomic vibration within the crystal lattice (standing
acoustic waves called “phonons”) accounts for the remain-
der of the heat content. The hotter the object, the more vio-
lent is the vibration of the electrons and atoms. Thus the
transfer of heat from one body to another, or from one part
of a body to another part of the same body, is equivalent to
transferring the kinetic energy of vibration from particles in
one location to those in another, adjacent location.
Dr. John A. Rockett, formerly senior scientist, U.S. National Bureau
of Standards, is a consultant based in Washington, DC. His research
has focused on the growth and spread of fire and the development of
analytic models for describing fire in buildings.
James A. Milke is associate professor of fire protection engineering at
the University of Maryland. His recent research activities have in-
cluded the impact of fires on the structural response of steel and com-
posite members, as well as the design of smoke management systems.
The heat content of an object is expressed as the inte-
gral of the material’s specific heat with respect to tempera-
ture from absolute zero to the temperature in question,
that is,
yT
q
C :c dT
o
The inability to correctly calculate specific heat was
one of the singular failures of classical physics. The roots
of modern quantum physics lie in the work of Planck,
Lorentz, and Einstein to resolve this problem. Building on
their work, Debye, and (independently) Born and von
Karman, published a theory of specific heat in 1912, which
is still accepted today with only refinements in detail. Ac-
cording to this theory, the specific heat rises from zero at
zero temperature and approaches a constant at high tem-
perature. A temperature characteristic of the material, or
the “Debye temperature,” determines the region where
transition from rising to constant specific heat occurs. At a
point well above the Debye temperature, the specific heat
is given by the classical, constant value; below it, quantum
effects must be included. For heavy atoms the Debye tem-
perature is well below room temperature, but it is higher
for light atoms. Beryllium, for example, is light enough
that its specific heat varies noticeably near room tempera-
ture. For aluminum at room temperature the specific heat
is 93 percent of the classical value; for copper, 95 percent.
For some minerals, however, the Debye temperature is
quite high and the assumption of constant specific heat
may lead to significant errors. Nevertheless, constant spe-
cific heat is generally assumed, usually without discus-
sion, in heat conduction studies.
Heat conduction is observed when a hot object is
brought in physical contact with a cold one: the hot object
cools and the cold one is heated. This process was studied
by Newton but, in the modern sense, first quantified by
Fourier in 1812. Fourier’s equation states that the quantity
of heat transferred per unit time across an area, A, is pro-
1–27