Metallic Bonding
Both Ionic bonding and Covalent, are mostly found in compounds, with the exception of the diatomic molecules were covalent bonds are found in elements. Most elemental metals have got metallic bonds, which in reality is a sea of electrons keeping metal ions together. This occurs due to the fact that metals would like to lose an electron, in order to have a noble gas configuration, and this is possible if an electron is free to jump from one atom to another.
Properties
They have high melting points and boiling points.
- Because of the charge separation, it is very difficult to break the interactions between different ions, and therefore metallic compounds tend to have high melting points and boiling points.
Insoluble in all solvents.
- The interactions between different particles are very difficult to break down, and therefore metallic compounds are insoluble in any solvent.
They are conductive to both heat and electricity.
- Electricity travels as a charge and as metallic compounds have a sea of electrons these are highly conductive to electricity. Metals also conduct electricity as the atoms are free to vibrate faster, transferring energy from one atom to another.
Metals are malleable and ductile
- The fact that in metals atoms only interact with each other and are not fully bonded means that these atoms can be repositioned in order to create different shapes. This allows for metals to either be flattened or to be drawn into wires.