THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY AND STRUCTURE

A theory is developed for the thermal conductivity of pure water, which explains the observed anomalous temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity. The results of the theory can be regarded as a new and independent confirmation of the theory of the structure of water based on the idea of the filling of the cavities in an ice-like framework. In the course of the displacement processes there should take place a comparatively extensive transfer of momentum from the system of cavity molecules to the ice-like quasicrystalline framework of water. Among the anomalies of water, undoubtedly associated with its specific structure, we must include the unusual temperature behavior of its thermal conductivity: among nonmetallic liquids with molecules consisting of a small number of atoms, water is the only liquid with a positive temperature coefficient of thermal conductivity. According to the data in [1], the following empirical formula is satisfied with good accuracy at ordinary pressures