For strongly temperature-dependent α, this approximation is only useful for small temperature differences ΔT.
Temperature coefficients are specified for various applications, including electric and magnetic properties of materials as well as reactivity.
The constant B is related to the energies required to form and move the charge carriers responsible for electrical conduction – hence, as the value of B increases, the material becomes insulating.
Practical and commercial NTC resistors aim to combine modest resistance with a value of B that provides good sensitivity to temperature.
Such is the importance of the B constant value, that it is possible to characterize NTC thermistors using the B parameter equation: where
The negative temperature coefficient avoids excessive local heating beneath carpets, bean bag chairs, mattresses, etc., which can damage wooden floors, and may infrequently cause fires.
Some applications, such as inertial gyroscopes and traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), need to have constant field over a wide temperature range.
By combining samarium and gadolinium in the alloy, the temperature coefficient can be reduced to nearly zero.
The temperature dependence of conductors is to a great degree linear and can be described by the approximation below.
just corresponds to the specific resistance temperature coefficient at a specified reference value (normally T = 0 °C)[2] That of a semiconductor is however exponential: where
Materials which have useful engineering applications usually show a relatively rapid increase with temperature, i.e. a higher coefficient.
On the other hand, NTC material may also be inherently self-limiting if constant current power source is used.
Materials which have useful engineering applications usually show a relatively rapid decrease with temperature, i.e. a lower coefficient.
The lower the coefficient, the greater a decrease in electrical resistance for a given temperature increase.
NTC materials are used to create inrush current limiters (because they present higher initial resistance until the current limiter reaches quiescent temperature), temperature sensors and thermistors.
This results in a higher number of charge carriers available for recombination, increasing the conductivity of the semiconductor.
However each element of the core has a specific temperature coefficient of reactivity (e.g. the fuel or cladding).
Changes in reactivity in fuel due to temperature stem from a phenomenon known as doppler broadening, where resonance absorption of fast neutrons in fuel filler material prevents those neutrons from thermalizing (slowing down).
Integrating the temperature coefficient differential law: Applying the Taylor series approximation at the first order, in the proximity of
, leads to: The thermal coefficient of electrical circuit parts is sometimes specified as ppm/°C, or ppm/K.