What happens to the thermal conductivity of copper when zinc is added?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the effect of adding zinc to copper on its thermal conductivity, which involves understanding how alloying elements affect material properties.
Answer
Decreases thermal conductivity
The addition of zinc to copper decreases the thermal conductivity of the resulting alloy.
Answer for screen readers
The addition of zinc to copper decreases the thermal conductivity of the resulting alloy.
More Information
The addition of zinc creates alloys such as brass, which have reduced thermal conductivities when compared to pure copper. This is because zinc acts as an impurity that disturbs the regular lattice structure of copper, hindering heat transfer.
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