Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Thermal Measurement Techniques in Analytical Microfluidic Devices
Published on: June 3, 2015
3omega method to measure thermal properties of electrically conducting small-volume liquid
Sun Rock Choi1, Joonwon Kim, Dongsik Kim
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, POSTECH, Pohang, Korea.
Abstract:
This work presents a method to measure the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of electrically conducting small-volume liquid samples using the 3omega technique. A mathematical model of heat transfer is derived to determine the thermal properties from the 3omega signal considering the device geometry. In order to validate the model, an experimental apparatus has been designed and set up to measure the thermal properties (thermal conductivity and heat capacity) of seven different liquid samples. The results show good agreement with other literature values, demonstrating that the suggested method is effective for measuring the thermal properties of electrically conducting liquids. More importantly, the result with a sample volume of 1 microl demonstrates the resolution of the thermal conductivity as precise as 0.01% which corresponds to a thermal-conductivity change of 10(-4) Wm K in the case of water-based solutions.
Related Concept Videos
Constant Volume Calorimetry
Measurement of Fluid Pressure
A basic form of manometer is the piezometer, a vertical tube open at the top and filled with the same...
Electrochemical Systems
Electrical Conductivity
In a practical conductor, an applied electric field may be sustained, causing a flow of electrons, which produce a current. The differential form of the current, the current density, is related to the electric field.
More generally, it is related to the force per unit charge, which involves the...
Deriving the Speed of Sound in a Liquid
The speed of sound in fluids can be derived by considering a mechanical wave propagating...
Calorimetry

