ABSTRACT
This chapter describes thermal Properties of electronic or electrical device. The rating of an electronic or electrical device depends on the capability of the device to dissipate heat. Ceramics, for example, are insulators, yet with alloying of various other elements, can be classified as semiconductors, resistors, a form of conductor, and even conductors. Heat also can melt a solid into a liquid and convert liquids into gases, both changes of state. Most ceramics, plastics, various oxides, paper, and air are all insulators. Capacitance is directly proportional to the dielectric constant of the insulating material. The resistivity and its inverse, the conductivity, vary over a wide range, due primarily to doping of other elements. Thermistors are semiconductor resistors that have resistor values that vary over a wide range. Temperature compensation refers to the active attempt by the design engineer to improve the performance and stability of an electronic circuit or system by minimizing the effects of temperature change.
