Technical Notes - Correlation Between Electrical and Thermal Conductivity in Nickel and Nickel Alloys

THE electrical conductivity (a) and the thermal conductivity (K) of metallic conductors, as demonstrated by Smith and Palmer1 and Hume-Rothery,2 are to a good approximation related by an empirical equation, K = A s T + B, in which T is the absolute temperature, and A and B are constants, the Lorenz constant and the lattice con- ductivity. Strictly speaking, the lattice conductivity is not a constant, but to some extent depends upon the electronic conductivity.3 By plotting K as a function of sT, this equation has been proved to a