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Unread 10-05-2002, 01:59 AM   #267
Cathar
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Quote:
Originally posted by joeyd
now whats the diffrence between the two and silver ?
All solids "give up" heat at the same rate, no matter what they are.

The convection of heat from a solid surface to a liquid or gas is totally dependent on what's going on with that liquid/gas at the solid's surface. The only part the solid has in the equation is how much surface area it can present to the liquid/gas.

What does change between solids is how fast they can conduct heat from somewhere hot to where the heat can be dissipated.

Silver is about 5% better at conducting heat than copper, and copper is about 90% better than aluminium at conducting heat. Silver is the best metal for conducting heat, but due to its cost, copper which is only very slightly behind makes much more sense.
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