Seebeck effect.
Image: National Physical Laboratory, UK
The generation of an electric current (or electromotive force) when two conductors of different metals are joined at their ends to form a circuit, with the two junctions kept at different temperatures. The Seebeck effect is the basic operating principle of the thermocouple. It is named after the German physicist Thomas Seebeck (1770-1831) who discovered it in 1821. See also Peltier effect.
