Equations · equation
Seebeck Effect
Thermoelectrics · 1821
- Equation
- V = −S·ΔT
- Field
- Thermoelectrics
- Named After
- Thomas Johann Seebeck
- Year
- 1821
Symbols
V voltage generated · ΔT temperature difference across the material · S the Seebeck coefficient, the material's signature (microvolts per kelvin)
Significance
Hold one end of a conductor hot and the other cold, and a voltage appears — heat turned directly into electricity with no moving parts. Seebeck misread his own discovery as 'thermomagnetism'; the thermocouple it spawned is still how most of industry measures temperature.
Referenced by
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