Are there any logical relationship between specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity ?
I was wondering about this when I was reading an article on whether to choose cast iron or aluminium vessels for kitchen.
Aluminium has more thermal conductivity and specific heat than iron ( source ).
This must mean more energy is required to raise an unit of aluminium than iron yet aluminium conducts heat better than cast iron.
Does it mean that aluminium also retains heat better ?
How does mass of the vessel affect the heat retention?
Best Answer
For metals there is a connection between the thermal conductivity and electric conductivity (Wiedemann–Franz law).
However specific heat is not directly related. This is because electric and thermal conductivity are due to the electrons, however the specific heat is mostly due to the ion vibrations (phonons).
Despite "classical" intuition electrons contribute almost nothing for specific heat in metals. Electrons in a typical metal behave close to an ideal fermion gas, in a very deep quantum range (typical Fermi temperature is about 40K Kelvins).