(d) Material of the rod.The thermal conductivity of a rod depends only on the material of the rod. For example, metals are much better conductors than non-metals because metals have large number of free electron that can move freely anywhere in the body of the metal and carry thermal energy from one place to other. Also, 2 copper rods having different lengths and areas of cross-section have same thermal conductivity that depends only on the number of free electrons in copper.