Comparison of Thermal Conductivity - GATE ME '01

In descending order of magnitude, the thermal conductivity of (a) Pure iron, (b) liquid water, (c) saturated water vapor, and (d) aluminum can be arranged as ______

A. abcd B. bcad C. dabc D. dcba

Ans:

Thermal conductivity of the pure iron at room temperature = 80.2 W/m.K

Thermal conductivity of the liquid water at room temperature = 0.607 W/m.K

Thermal conductivity of the water vapor at room temperature = 0.026 W/m.K

Thermal conductivity of the Aluminium at room temperature = 237 W/m.K

Therefore thermal conductivity in descending order is

Aluminium > Pure Iron > Liquid Water > Water Vapor

So the correct answer is option C.