diamond is a good thermal conductor like metals. However, it is poor conductor unlike metals. How do you account for this?
Answers
Answer:
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Explanation:
It happens that metals are both good conductors of electricity and of heat, but one doesn't necessarily imply the other.
Conduction of electricity requires the ability to transport charge. So in a metal, for example, there are lots of electrons which are quite free to move around, and this allows charge to flow easily. Electrons in diamond are tightly bound (all of the valence electrons are tied up in covalent bonds), so it doesn't conduct electricity well.
Conduction of heat doesn't necessarily require the ability to transport charge, although conduction electrons in a metal can certainly transmit heat. It is only necessary to transmit the mechanical energy of molecular motions. A diamond can do this effectively because the motions of the atoms in its crystal lattice are strongly coupled (i.e. if you push an atom it has a strong effect on the atoms bonded to it, as opposed to in wood, for example,where the atoms are not all connected by a lattice of rigid bonds). This coupling of atomic motions, however, provides no means to transport charge because there is no net transport of particles through the crystal.
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