Copper is an excellent conductor of heat, with a thermal conductivity of 401 W/m/K - among common metals it is bettered only by silver, for both heat and electricity. This comes from copper's atomic structure: its atoms are packed closely together, letting electrons pass between adjacent atoms with relative ease, which is what gives copper its high conductivity.
K values compared
Thermal conductivity, or K value, measures how readily heat flows through a material, in units of W/m/K. For comparison:
| Material | Thermal conductivity (W/m/K) |
|---|---|
| Pure copper | 401 |
| Pure silver | 429 |
| Nickel | 91 |
| Stainless steels | Around 16 |
| Hiduron® 130 | 46 |
| Hidurel® 5 | 190 |