<math> \nabla^2 T(\mathbf{r}) - \frac{1} {\alpha}\frac{\partial T}{\partial t} = \left( \frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial y^2} + \frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial z^2} \right) - \frac{1} {\alpha}\frac{\partial T}{\partial t} = - \frac{w(\mathbf{r})}{k} </math>
where α = k/(ρ<sub>V</sub>c<sub>p</sub>) is the thermal diffusivity with units of m<sup>2</sup>/s, ρ<sub>V</sub> is the volume mass densityhaving units of kg/m<sup>3</sup>, c<sub>p</sub> is the specific heat capacity of the medium having units of J/(kg.K), and w(<b>r</b>) is the volume heat source density with units of W/m<sup>3</sup>.
In the steady-state regime, the time derivative vanishes and the diffusion equation reduces to the Poisson equation: