Thermoelectric effect |
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In physics and chemistry, the Nernst effect (also termed the first Nernst–Ettingshausen effect, after Walther Nernst and Albert von Ettingshausen) is a thermoelectric (or thermomagnetic) phenomenon observed when a sample allowing electrical conduction is subjected to a magnetic field and a temperature gradient normal (perpendicular) to each other. An electric field will be induced normal to both.
This effect is quantified by the Nernst coefficient , which is defined to be
where is the y-component of the electric field that results from the magnetic field's z-component and the x-component of the temperature gradient .
The reverse process is known as the Ettingshausen effect and also as the second Nernst–Ettingshausen effect.