Metals Solid

the pinnacle of new york s chrysler building, world s tallest steel-supported brick building, clad stainless steel.

metals typically strong, dense, , conductors of both electricity , heat. bulk of elements in periodic table, left of diagonal line drawn boron polonium, metals. mixtures of 2 or more elements in major component metal known alloys.

people have been using metals variety of purposes since prehistoric times. strength , reliability of metals has led widespread use in construction of buildings , other structures, in vehicles, many appliances , tools, pipes, road signs , railroad tracks. iron , aluminium 2 commonly used structural metals, , abundant metals in earth s crust. iron commonly used in form of alloy, steel, contains 2.1% carbon, making harder pure iron.

because metals conductors of electricity, valuable in electrical appliances , carrying electric current on long distances little energy loss or dissipation. thus, electrical power grids rely on metal cables distribute electricity. home electrical systems, example, wired copper conducting properties , easy machinability. high thermal conductivity of metals makes them useful stovetop cooking utensils.

the study of metallic elements , alloys makes significant portion of fields of solid-state chemistry, physics, materials science , engineering.

metallic solids held high density of shared, delocalized electrons, known metallic bonding . in metal, atoms readily lose outermost ( valence ) electrons, forming positive ions. free electrons spread on entire solid, held firmly electrostatic interactions between ions , electron cloud. large number of free electrons gives metals high values of electrical , thermal conductivity. free electrons prevent transmission of visible light, making metals opaque, shiny , lustrous.

more advanced models of metal properties consider effect of positive ions cores on delocalised electrons. metals have crystalline structure, ions arranged periodic lattice. mathematically, potential of ion cores can treated various models, simplest being free electron model.