Metallic Structure and Bonding

Peter F. Lang^1, and Barry C. Smith¹

¹Birkbeck College (University of London), Malet Street, London, UK WC1E 7HX

Cite this paper:
Peter F. Lang and Barry C. Smith. Metallic Structure and Bonding. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2015; 3(2):30-35. doi: 10.12691/wjce-3-2-1

Abstract

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.

Keywords:
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

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