- is a phenomenon by which a temperature difference is directly converted to electric voltage and vice versa.

On the measurement-scale of everyday life, a thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. Conversely, when a voltage is applied to it, it creates a temperature difference. This effect can be used to generate electricity, to measure temperature, to cool objects, or to heat them or cook them. Because the direction of heating and cooling is determined by the sign of the applied voltage, thermoelectric devices make very convenient temperature controllers.

thermoelectric effect or thermoelectricity

Traditionally,

the

term

encompasses three separately identified phenomena, known as the Seebeck effect, the Peltier effect, and the Thomson effect.

T hermoelectric effect or thermoelectricity encompasses three separately identified phenomena:

Seebeck effect Thomson effect Peltier effect

Seebeck effect - conversion of differences directly into electricity.

temperature

where SA and SB are the Seebeck coefficients of the metals, A and B as a function of temperature, and T1 and T2 are the temperatures of the two junctions.

Thomson Effect describes the heating or cooling of a current-carrying conductor with a temperature gradient. If a current density J is passed through a homogeneous conductor, heat production per unit volume is:

where is the resistivity of the material dT/dx is the temperature gradient along the wire is the Thomson coefficient.

Peltier Effect is the calorific effect of an electrical current at the junction of two different metals. When a current I is made to flow through the circuit, heat is evolved at the upper junction (at T 2), and absorbed at the lower junction (at T 1). The Peltier heat absorbed by the lower junction per unit time, is equal to

Where is the Peltier coefficient AB of the entire thermocouple, and A and B are the coefficients of each material.
~By Kim Gaspar Altares and Ella Marie Laguindam