Specific heat capacity and themal conductivity

[GRB 080319B]

Can a compound have a high specific heat capacity and be a good thermal conductor, or are these properties mutually exclusive?

 

[Drakkith]

I believe water is good at both of those. Heat capacity just means that it takes more energy to heat the material up, while thermal conductivity means that a material will transfer heat between itself and other objects much quicker if it has a high conductivity. I don't know for sure but I would think that these would not be mutually exclusive.

 

[Mapes]

Looking at it another way, most materials will have a specific heat on the order of 1 J g^-1 K^-1. Thermal conductivity is about 1 W m^-1 K^-1 for water, tens or hundreds of W m^-1 K^-1 for metals, and higher for diamond.

 

[Mule71181]

Could it be possible to recreate from a Lab, lava rock composites that can withstand extreme temperatures in excess of 2400 F? And could this be molded?

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

I don't know what you are aiming at. Quarz glas which is similar to lava melts at 1400C but it gets much softer way before. Most of the Earth crust is quartz of feldspar with a melting point around 1400°C There are substances that you can mould that withstand your temperatures easily, but with lava rock you are probably on the wrong track.