Metallic

When beginning to learn the important concepts and knowledge required to engage with the DP Curriculum it is important to have a basic understanding and experience of some of the ideas in each topic. At AIS the majority of students follow the iGCSE Coordinated Science curriculum as a precursor to studying DP chemistry and this site will use some of the objectives from the iGCSE to provide an area of prior learning - allowing those students who would like to refresh their knowledge or for new students to engage wth matter that has become prior to starting this course.

To this end students are expected to have a basic understanding of the C3 Atoms, elements and Compounds with the direct aim of constructing formula for common elements and compounds and balancing symbol equations.

In the above diagram you can see the metallic bonding in Sodium.

Here a +1 ion is surrounded by what appears to be randomly distributed Electrons

As these electrons are free to move - we call them delocalised

As they can move - and electricity is defined as the movement of charged particles - Metals Conduct electricity when both solid and molten

You can also see that the Cations are arranged in a regular, repeating structure - regular repeating structures are called Lattice structure

If you apply a force to metal atoms the metallic bonds break and reform very quickly - meaning that Metals can be beaten into shape and are Malleable and Ductile

As these structures are massive and contain many millions of atoms - we call them Giant and breaking all these attractions takes a great amount of energy - to that end Metals have high Melting and Boiling Points

As the atoms of an element exist in metals on their own, with the required number of electrons needed to make them back to neutral atoms within the structure - we always represent metals as Monatomic Solids.

Example:

Sodium (Na) is represented simply as Na

Properties of Metals

Melting and Boiling Points

Like the Ionic Compounds previously studied - Metals also have a Giant, Repeating 3-Dimensional Structure called a Lattice. As this is such a giant structure - there are many attractions between delocalised electrons and cations. As these many attractions will take a large amount of energy to break so...

Metals have HIGH MELTING AND BOILING POINTS

Again - due to their High melting and boiling points METALS ARE SOLID AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

Electrical Conductivity

As Metals always have delocalised electrons that are free to move, even when solid...

METALS CONDUCT ELECTRICITY WHEN BOTH SOLID AND MOLTEN.