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Suppose I have a ceiling and its dimension are given in $Z \times C \times Y$, and a it's got a thermal conductivity $k$. Now, I want to know H, or the heat rate. It's given by $ H =\frac{kA(T_h -T_c)}{L}$. Where $T_h \ and \ T_c$ are the hot and cold temperature difference. How do I use the given dimensions for $A$ and $L$? Can I just assume $Z \times C$ is the area $A$ and $Y$ is $L$?

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what are $Z$, $C$ and $Y$? – Pygmalion May 9 '12 at 18:57
Those were actually the dimensions for volume. Like LxWxH, not sure if the problem given to me corresponds to those though. – Dystopian May 9 '12 at 19:06
Are these dimension of ceiling wall? And which is which, or more specific, which one is vertical dimension? – Pygmalion May 9 '12 at 19:09
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-1: this is not a mind-reading site. – Ron Maimon May 10 '12 at 0:55
No, I'm thinking that maybe I'm utterly wrong about thinking A is ZxC or L is Y, whatever the dimensions stand for. I thought that has some merit to it. – Dystopian May 10 '12 at 3:22

closed as not a real question by Qmechanic♦, Ron Maimon, Manishearth♦, Ϛѓăʑɏ βµԂԃϔ, Emilio Pisanty Dec 18 '12 at 15:48

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1 Answer

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$L$ is thickness of the the layer and $A$ is area of the layer between two temperatures. The answer depends on what $Z$, $C$ and $Y$ stand for.

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The problem given to me did not explicitly state what is Z,C, and Y. If I'd assume those corresponds respectively to LxWxH, it would make sense though. So if it is, ZxC is A and Y is L right? – Dystopian May 9 '12 at 19:09
Well, tough luck, if you don't know which is which, neither do I or anyone else here. – Pygmalion May 9 '12 at 19:10
Oh, thanks anyway. – Dystopian May 9 '12 at 19:11

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