They are shiny, malleable, fusible, ductile, good conductors of electricity and heat, and inclined to give up electrons to form cations. But do you know why? What makes metals so marvelous? The answer, of course, lies at the atomic scale.
Metals are malleable, meaning that they can be formed into other shapes, such as thin sheets or foils, without breaking or cracking.
They are also ductile, which means they can be easily drawn into wires. While aluminum foil in your kitchen and copper electrical wires in electric cables are obvious everyday uses of these properties, wires can be shrunk down in complex ways. They can be formed into microcircuits for cell phones, or used in the development of smart coatings for glass that not only make windows reflective but also protective by blocking infrared radiation.
How is it possible for metals to flex in so many different ways? The answer is metallic bonding. In chemistry class, you probably focused on molecular and ionic bonds, in which electrons are shared to varying degrees between individual atoms.
In ionic and covalent materials, solids result from strong ionic bonds or the intermolecular forces between molecules. If stress is placed on these substances i.
When stress is applied, the electrons simply slip over to an adjacent nucleus. Metallic bonding—and the loosely held electrons—is also why metals conduct electricity so well. Electricity is the flow of electrons. It can be easy to underestimate the importance of these metallic bonds. But the Statue of Liberty is a meter ft. The torch has an additional layer of gold leaf, which is gold beaten into sheets about 0.
To see why metals are ductile, you need to go one step further—to the crystal structure of metals. But metals do organize themselves in unit cell structures. Unit cells that allow planes of atoms to slip past each other in more directions, such as face-centered cubic i.
Body-centered cubic structures fall in between. Note that the three most ductile elements on the periodic table—copper, silver, and gold—are all face-centered cubic. One ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire km long and can even be used as thread for embroidery. Metals like copper, platinum, silver, and gold are shiny and glitter when polished.
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Share Flipboard Email. Terence Bell. Metal Expert. Updated November 24, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Bell, Terence. What Is Malleability in Metal? Metallic Character: Properties and Trends. Metal Profile and Properties of Tellurium. Ductility Explained: Tensile Stress and Metals. Copper Facts: Chemical and Physical Properties. Metals Versus Nonmetals - Comparing Properties. The Properties and Uses of Zinc Metal. Zirconium Facts Atomic Number 40 or Zr. An Introduction to Cryogenic Hardening of Metal.
They say that gold can be hammered out to a film a few atoms thick, which I still think is quite phenomenal. But note that malleability is a property of all metals, not just the pretty ones. Chemistry Bonding Basics Metallic Bonding. Sep 3, Explanation: The property of malleability derives from the non-localized metallic bonding , " positive ions in a sea of electrons ".
Related questions How do metallic bonds account for the properties of most metals? How do metallic bonds share electrons?
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