Metallic Bonds Main Concept: Metallic bonding describes an array of positively charged metal cores surrounded by a sea of mobile valence electrons.

Metallic Bonding Metallic Bonds What they are / How they’re structured Properties of Metals Electric Conductivity Malleability Ductility Volatility

- In metallic bonds, valence electrons from metal atoms are considered delocalized and not associated with any individual atom - can be represented as array of positive metal ions with valence electrons drawn among them, as if electrons were moving (ie. a sea of electrons)

- electron sea model can explain several properties of metals, including: - electrical conductivity: ability to conduct electricity - malleability: ability of solid to bend or be hammered into other shapes without breaking - ductility: ability of a material to be stretched - low volatility: does not evaporate easily

- number of valence electrons involved in metallic bonding, via the shell model, can be used to understand patterns in these properties

Question: How might an understanding of valence electrons explain the properties below for metals? - electrical conductivity - malleability - ductility - low volatility

- Metals are good conductors because delocalized electrons can easily flow through metals - Metals are malleable and ductile because local bonds can easily be broken and reformed -metals generally have strong attractive forces so they have low volatility