In this post, we’ll look at some common properties of metals.
Property of Metal 1: Soft/ Malleable/ Ductile
Pure metals are soft because layers of atoms can slide pass each other easily. To make metals stronger, we can add another element to pure metal.
Alloys are mixtures of metal with other element. Alloys are strong as the different element will disrupt the orderly arrangement of the metal, preventing layers of atoms from sliding pass each other easily.
Common alloys:
Brass – an alloy of copper and zinc
Bronze – an alloy of copper and tin
steel – an alloy of iron and carbon
Property of Metal 2: Good Conducts of Electricity
Metals can conduct electricity because of presence of free moving electrons.
Property of Metal 3: Relatively high melting/ boiling point
Metals have high melting/ boiling point because of the strong electrostatic forces of attraction between the positive metal cation and negatively charged electrons.