Peter F. Lang^1,, Barry C. Smith¹

This article briefly describes the current physical model of metallic structure and bonding. An alternative soft-sphere model of metal structure is introduced. Limitations of the current model are given and properties of metals which can be accounted for by the soft-sphere model are discussed. A simple soft-sphere formula, which calculated internuclear distances of Group 1 and Group 2 crystalline binary salts to a remarkable degree of accuracy, is applied to calculate metallic radii (equal to half the internuclear distances) of Group 1 and Group 2 metals precisely. A simple expression previously used to calculate lattice energies using the soft-sphere radii concept is used to calculate enthalpies of formation of Group 1 and Group 2 metal ions and results compare well with observed values. The work functions of Group 1 and Group 2 metals are shown to be inverse functions of the soft sphere ionic radii.

metals, metallic bonding, metallic structure, band theory, metallic radii, enthalpy of formation, lattice energies, work function, free electron in metals, electron sea model, chemical bonding