CONDUCTIVITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does conductivity mean? 

• CONDUCTIVITY (noun)
  The noun CONDUCTIVITY has 1 sense:

1. the transmission of heat or electricity or sound

  Familiarity information: CONDUCTIVITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONDUCTIVITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The transmission of heat or electricity or sound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

conduction; conductivity

Hypernyms ("conductivity" is a kind of...):

physical phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conductivity"):

electrical conduction (the passage of electricity through a conductor)

Derivation:

conductive (having the quality or power of conducting heat or electricity or sound; exhibiting conductivity)

 Context examples 

An inorganic substance that contains the metallic element beryllium with excellent thermal and electrical conductivity and is corrosion resistant.

(Beryllium Compound, NCI Thesaurus)

Beryllium oxide is widely used in industry due to its low density and high thermal and electrical conductivity.

(Beryllium Oxide, NCI Thesaurus)

A white colored, crystalline, inorganic compound composed of beryllium and copper in which beryllium increases the alloys thermal and electrical conductivity.

(Beryllium-Copper Alloy, NCI Thesaurus)

A crystalline, inorganic compound composed of beryllium and aluminum in which beryllium increases the alloys thermal and electrical conductivity and emits toxic fumes of beryllium oxides upon heating.

(Beryllium-Aluminum Alloy, NCI Thesaurus)

In contrast, the thinner cell walls have lower thermal conductivity due to cellulose chains being almost at a right angle to the plant stem.

(Visualising heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, University of Cambridge)

The conductivity could also be tuned by changing the pressure.

(‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor, University of Cambridge)

Due to their nanothickness and the variety of elements they can contain (other nanomaterials like graphene are typically made up of only one or two elements), these materials tend to have really interesting properties, like high electrical conductivity and high catalytic activity.

(Vitamin C is key to protection of new nanomaterial, National Science Foundation)

The way heat flows across bamboo cell walls has been mapped using advanced scanning thermal microscopy, providing a new understanding of how variations in thermal conductivity are linked to the bamboo’s elegant structure.

(Visualising heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, University of Cambridge)

Despite graphene’s extraordinary strength and conductivity, the fact that it is not magnetic limits its application in areas such as magnetic storage and spintronics, and so researchers have been searching for magnetic materials which could be incorporated with graphene-based devices.

(‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor, University of Cambridge)

Peaks of thermal conductivity within the bamboo structure coincide with the thicker walls, where chains of cellulose – the basic structural component of plant cell walls – are laid down almost parallel to the plant stem.

(Visualising heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, University of Cambridge)