3: Thermal Properties

Many of the thermal properties of materials are intimately related to the fundamentally relevant characteristic, the heat capacity. In electrically insulating materials, the heat capacity arises primarily from the lattice vibrations; the conduction electrons also contribute to the heat capacity in metals. This chapter introduces the essential concepts of lattice vibrations, followed by the basic models of heat capacity. Finally, typical attributes like thermal expansion and thermal conductivity are discussed. Thermoelectric effects are noted briefly along with the discussion of semiconductors in the following chapter.