2.4 Structure of Metals and Alloys

Metals are composed of:

cations that are embedded in delocalized sea of valence electrons

delocalized sea of valence electrons means that the electrons:

do not stay with one atom, rather they are able to move throughout the entire substance

In metals, the cations and the electrons are attracted to one another through:

a Coulombic Attraction which holds the metal atoms together

Can you tell which electron came from which cation in metals?

No

What determines the amount of electrons in the delocalized sea of electrons?

The number of valence electrons

When the charge on the cations and the number of electrons increases the attractions between electrons and cations in metals are greater/smaller

greater

when the ionic radius decreases the attraction between electrons and cations increases/decreases.

increases

Mixtures of metals are called:

alloys

Two types of alloys are:

interstitial and substitutional

The difference between interstitial and substitutional alloys is the:

size of the atoms that are being added to the metal

For interstitial alloys, atoms added to the metal are:

small and fit in between the metal atoms in the existing holes (interstices)

Examples of atoms added to make interstitial alloys:

H, B, C, N

For substitutional alloys, atoms added to the metal have ______ so they can:

similar radii; replace the atoms in the lattice