metals and polymers

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Properties of materials: Metals and Polymers.

When a metal is in its purest form it is made of ions that are held in place by metallic bonds. Covalent and ionic bonding is different to metallic as the outer shells of adjacent atoms overlap. This then lets the outer shell electrons to move about freely through the lattice in the electron cloud.

diagram of an electon cloud

Metals atoms have to have a positive charged nucleus and also have negative charged electrons outside. The atom will lose its outer electrons when it is in its solid state. The bonding electrons spread thought the lattice and become delocalised this is because the bonding electrons no longer belong to any particular metal atom. Delocalised means that it is not restricted to one part of the lattice.

Metallic bonds are formed when positive metal ions are attracted to the negative charged electrons which lies in the electron cloud. The strength of these metaillic bonds is determined by two main factors these are:

  • The radius of the individual metal atoms the smaller the radius the stronger it is.
  • Also, the number of electrons that each of the atom donates. The more electrons donated then the stronger the bond.
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Metallic Bonding

Metals that consist of metal cations and they have a balancing number of free electrons also have unit cell structures. These types of metals are known to be crystalline structures which can also be described as either:

  • Body Centred Cubic (BCC)
  • Hexagonal Close Packed (HPC)
  • Face centred Cubic (FCC)

     

Properties of metals.

  • Electrical Conductivity
  • High Metal and boiling points
  • Lustre
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Strength
  • Malleability 

Copper

Copper is lightweight and soft metal ...

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