C2.7 Metallic bonding

What is metallic bonding?

• The electrostatic attraction between the positive ions in a giant metal lattice and a sea of delocalised electrons

  • Amount of delocalised electrons depends on the group number

Properties of metallic bonding

• Good conductors of electricity: they have delocalised electrons which allow them to carry electrical charge

• Malleable: the cations are arranged in layers that can slide over each other

• High melting and boiling point: they have strong electrostatic attraction between cations and delocalised electrons which require a lot of energy to break

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