metal

(noun)

Any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms. It is generally shiny, malleable, and a conductor of heat and electricity.

Related Terms

  • ductile
  • molecular orbital
  • conductive
  • metallic bond
  • voltage

(noun)

Any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms; generally shiny, somewhat malleable and hard, often a conductor of heat and electricity

Related Terms

  • ductile
  • molecular orbital
  • conductive
  • metallic bond
  • voltage

Examples of metal in the following topics:

  • Bonding in Metals: The Electron Sea Model

    • Metallic bonding may be described as the sharing of free electrons among a lattice of positively charged metal ions.
    • Metallic bonding may be described as the sharing of free electrons among a lattice of positively charged metal ions.
    • While ionic bonds join metals to nonmetals, and covalent bonds join nonmetals to nonmetals, metallic bonds are responsible for the bonding between metal atoms.
    • The characteristics of metallic bonds explain a number of the unique properties of metals:
    • Metals are shiny.
  • Metal Exchange Reactions

    • Alternative methods of preparing a wide variety of organometallic compounds generally involve an exchange reaction in which a given metal is either moved to a new location or replaced by a new metal, which may include B, Al, Ti, V, Fe, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ru, Pd, Sn, Pt, Hg & Pb.
  • Occurrence of Metals

    • A native metal is any metal that is found in its metallic form in nature, either pure or as an alloy.
    • This is why only the less reactive metals such as gold and platinum are found as native metals.
    • Native metals were prehistoric man's only access to metal.
    • When a metal ore is an ionic compound of that metal and a non-metal, the ore must usually be smelted (or heated with a reducing agent) to extract the pure metal.
    • Describe the characteristics of metal alloys and the natural occurence of native metals.
  • General Properties of Metals

    • Metals are usually malleable, ductile, and shiny.
    • Metals are shiny and lustrous with a high density.
    • For example, hitting a metal with a hammer will "dent" the metal, not shatter it into pieces.
    • This is very instrumental in the conductivity of the metal.
    • Sodium metal is soft enough to be cut with a plastic knife.
  • Metallic Crystals

    • Metallic crystals are held together by metallic bonds, electrostatic interactions between cations and delocalized electrons.
    • These interactions are called metallic bonds.
    • Atoms in metals are arranged like closely-packed spheres, and two packing patterns are particularly common: body-centered cubic, wherein each metal is surrounded by eight equivalent metals, and face-centered cubic, in which the metals are surrounded by six neighboring atoms.
    • Some metals (the alkali and alkaline earth metals) have low density, low hardness, and low melting points.
    • The high density of most metals is due to the tightly packed crystal lattice of the metallic structure.
  • Metal Cations that Act as Lewis Acids

    • Ligands create a complex when forming coordinate bonds with transition metals ions; the transition metal ion acts as a Lewis acid, and the ligand acts as a Lewis base.
    • Nearly all compounds formed by the transition metals can be viewed as collections of the Lewis bases—or ligands—bound to the metal, which functions as the Lewis acid.
    • One coordination chemistry's applications is using Lewis bases to modify the activity and selectivity of metal catalysts in order to create useful metal-ligand complexes in biochemistry and medicine.
    • Examples of several metals (V, Mn, Re, Fe, Ir) in coordination complexes with various ligands.
    • All these metals act as Lewis acids, accepting electron pairs from their ligands.
  • Periodic Trends in Metallic Properties

    • Metallic properties tend to decrease across a period and increase down a periodic group.
    • Keep in mind that group names can give clues about the elements' metallic properties.
    • Elements with low electronegativity tend to have more metallic properties.
    • Metals tend to form positive ions, and like charges repel, so how do metal atoms stay bonded together in a solid?
    • Families of the periodic table are often grouped by metallic properties.
  • Corrosion

    • Corrosion is commonly discussed in reference to metals, which corrode electrochemically.
    • During the corrosion process, a metal atom at the surface dissolves into an aqueous solution, leaving the metal with excess negatively charged ions.
    • The conductive properties of metal enable the oxidation and reduction steps that occur during corrosion to take place at separate sites on the metal's surface.
    • The conductivity allows electrons to flow from the anodic to cathodic regions of the metal.
    • The higher a metal's reduction potential, the less likely it is to be oxidized.
  • Extractive Metallurgy

    • Metal ores are generally oxides, sulfides and silicates of "native" metals (such as native copper) that are not commonly concentrated in the Earth's crust.
    • Extractive metallurgy is the practice of removing valuable metals from an ore and refining the extracted raw metals into a purer form.
    • In order to convert a metal oxide or sulfide to a purer metal, the ore must be reduced physically, chemically, or electrolytically.
    • Ore bodies often contain more than one valuable metal.
    • Additionally, a concentrate may contain more than one valuable metal.
  • The Alkali Metals

    • All the alkali metals react with water, with the heavier alkali metals reacting more vigorously than the lighter ones.
    • The oxides are much less reactive than the pure metals.
    • In this case, the metal is a basic anhydride.
    • All the discovered alkali metals occur in nature.
    • Most alkali metals have many different applications.
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