Wiedemann–Franz law
Ley de la conductividad de Wiedemann-Franz
- Date
- 1853 · confidence high
- Place
- Berlin, Germany
- Credited to
- Gustav Wiedemann and Rudolph Franz
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
States that, in a metal, the ratio of thermal to electrical conductivity is proportional to temperature, with a constant (the Lorenz number) nearly the same for all metals. It links heat and charge transport by electrons.
A rigorous theoretical derivation from the quantum theory of electrons came decades later, with Arnold Sommerfeld.
What it led to
- Early confirmation that heat and electricity are carried by the same carriers
- Experimental basis for the electron theory of metals