I.

DEFINITION & DESCRIPTION

II.

A substance with high electrical conductivity, luster, and malleability, which readily
loses electrons to form positive ions (cations). Metals are otherwise defined
according to their position on the Periodic Table, including groupings as alkali
metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, and rare earth metals.
Metals are materials that are normally combinations of "metallic elements". These
elements, when combined, usually have electrons that are non-localized and as a
consequence have generic types of properties. Metals usually are good conductors of
heat and electricity. They are also quite strong but deformable and tend to have a
lustrous look when polished
It is a chemical element that, in general, (1) is a good conductor of heat and
electricity, (2) is opaque but good reflector of light when polished, (3) can be beaten
into sheets, (4) can be drawn into wires, (5) produces a sonorous tone when struck.
All metals crystallize under suitable conditions and (except cesium, gallium, and
mercury) are solid at normal temperature. Chemically, metals tend to form positive
ions (are electropositive) and most have strong reactive-affinity with certain nonmetallic elements (such as chlorine and sulfur) with which they form salts. Trace
quantities of some metals (such as cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium,
sodium, and zinc) are essential to animal, human, and plant health.
It is an element that readily forms positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds.
Sometimes described as are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions
surrounded by a cloud of delocalized electrons.
One of the three groups of elements as distinguished by their ionization and bonding
properties, along with the metalloids and nonmetals.
They have overlapping conduction bands and valence bands in their electronic
structure.

STRUCTURE

Metals account for about two thirds of all the elements and about 24% of the mass of the
planet. They are all around us in such forms as steel structures, copper wires, aluminum foil, and gold
jewelry. Metals are widely used because of their properties: strength, ductility, high melting point,
thermal and electrical conductivity, and toughness.
These properties also offer clues as to the structure of metals. As with all elements, metals are
composed of atoms. The strength of metals suggests that these atoms are held together by strong
bonds. These bonds must also allow atoms to move; otherwise how could metals be hammered into
sheets or drawn into wires? A reasonable model would be one in which atoms are held together by
strong, but delocalized, bonds.
Valence electrons are detached from atoms, and spread in an 'electron sea' that "glues" the
ions together. Strong, ductile, conduct electricity and heat well, are shiny if polished.

Bonding
Such bonds could be formed between metal atoms that have low electronegativities and
do not attract their valence electrons strongly. This would allow the outermost electrons to be
shared by all the surrounding atoms, resulting in positive ions (cations) surrounded by a sea of
electrons (sometimes referred to as an electron cloud).

Figure 1: Metallic Bonding

Because these valence electrons are shared by all the atoms, they are not considered to be
associated with any one atom. This is very different from ionic or covalent bonds, where
electrons are held by one or two atoms. The metallic bond is therefore strong and uniform. Since
electrons are attracted to many atoms, they have considerable mobility that allows for the good
heat and electrical conductivity seen in metals.
Above their melting point, metals are liquids, and their atoms are randomly arranged and
relatively free to move. However, when cooled below their melting point, metals rearrange to
form ordered, crystalline structures.

Figure 2: Arrangement of atoms in a liquid and a solid.

Crystals
To form the strongest metallic bonds, metals are packed together as closely as possible.
Several packing arrangements are possible. Instead of atoms, imagine marbles that need to be
packed in a box. The marbles would be placed on the bottom of the box in neat orderly rows and
then a second layer begun. The second layer of marbles cannot be placed directly on top of the
other marbles and so the rows of marbles in this layer move into the spaces between marbles in
the first layer. The first layer of marbles can be designated as A and the second layer as B giving
the two layers a designation of AB.

Layer "A"

Layer "B"

AB packing

Figure 3: AB packing of spheres. Notice that layer B spheres fit in the holes in the A layer.

Packing marbles in the third layer requires a decision. Again rows of atoms will nest in
the hollows between atoms in the second layer but two possibilities exist. If the rows of marbles
are packed so they are directly over the first layer (A) then the arrangement could be described as
ABA. Such a packing arrangement with alternating layers would be designated as ABABAB.
This ABAB arrangement is called hexagonal close packing (HCP).
If the rows of atoms are packed in this third layer so that they do not lie over atoms in
either the A or B layer, then the third layer is called C. This packing sequence would be
designated ABCABC, and is also known as face-centered cubic (FCC). Both arrangements give
the closest possible packing of spheres leaving only about a fourth of the available space empty.
The smallest repeating array of atoms in a crystal is called a unit cell. A third common
packing arrangement in metals, the body-centered cubic (BCC) unit cell has atoms at each of the
eight corners of a cube plus one atom in the center of the cube. Because each of the corner atoms
is the corner of another cube, the corner atoms in each unit cell will be shared among eight unit
cells. The BCC unit cell consists of a net total of two atoms, the one in the center and eight
eighths from the corners.

In the FCC arrangement, again there are eight atoms at corners of the unit cell and one
atom centered in each of the faces. The atom in the face is shared with the adjacent cell. FCC unit
cells consist of four atoms, eight eighths at the corners and six halves in the faces. Table 1 shows
the stable room temperature crystal structures for several elemental metals.

Table 1: Crystal Structure for some Metals (at room temperature)

Aluminum

FCC

Nickel

FCC

Cadmium

HCP

Niobium

BCC

Chromium

BCC

Platinum

FCC

Cobalt

HCP

Silver

FCC

Copper

FCC

Titanium

HCP

Gold

FCC

Vanadium

BCC

Iron

BCC

Zinc

HCP

Lead

FCC

Zirconium

HCP

Magnesium

HCP

Unit cell structures determine some of the properties of metals. For example, FCC
structures are more likely to be ductile than BCC, (body centered cubic) or HCP (hexagonal close
packed). Figure 4 shows the FCC and BCC unit cells.

Body Centered Cubic

Face Centered Cubic

As atoms of melted metal begin to pack together to form a crystal lattice at the freezing
point, groups of these atoms form tiny crystals. These tiny crystals increase in size by the
progressive addition of atoms. The resulting solid is not one crystal but actually many smaller
crystals, called grains. These grains grow until they impinge upon adjacent growing crystals. The
interface formed between them is called a grain boundary. Grains are sometimes large enough to
be visible under an ordinary light microscope or even to the unaided eye. The spangles that are
seen on newly galvanized metals are grains. Figure 5 shows a typical view of a metal surface with
many grains, or crystals.

Figure 5: Grains and Grain Boundaries for a Metal.

III.

PROPERTIES
A. Mechanical Properties
Mechanical Properties (also called physical properties) refers to the behavior of material
when external forces are applied.
a.) Elastic Deformation It is the ability of a metal to be deformed and return to its original
shape once the external force is released
b.) Plastic Deformation It happens when the atoms of a metal are permanently displaced
after being subjected to an external force. Most materials will get narrow when stretched
and thicken when compressed
c.) Hardness - It is the ability of a metal to resist plastic deformation.
d.) Ductility It is the amount of stretching a metal can handle before it fractures.
e.) Resilience It is the ability of the metal to absorb energy upon elastic deformation and
release it after unloading.
f.) Toughness - It is the ability of the metal to absorb energy and plastic deformation
without fracturing.
g.) Malleability. It is the property of a metal to be deformed or compressed permanently
without rupture or fracture. Specifically, it means the capacity to be rolled or hammered
into thin sheets. The property of malleability is similar to but not the same as that of
ductility, and different metals do not possess the two properties in the same degree. Lead

and tin are relatively high in order of malleability; however, they lack the necessary
tensile strength to be drawn into fine wire. Most metals have increased malleability and
ductility at higher temperatures. For example, iron and nickel are very malleable when
heated brightred.
h.) Brittleness. The term "brittleness" implies sudden failure.
It is the property of breaking without warning; that is, without visible permanent
deformation. It is the reverse of toughness in the sense that a brittle piece of metal has
little resistance to rupture after it reaches its elastic limit. Brittleness can also be said to
be the opposite of ductility, in the sense that it involves rupture with very little
deformation. In many cases, hard metals are brittle; however, the terms should not be
confused or used synonymously.
i.) Machinability. Machinability is the ease or difficulty with which a material lends itself
to being machined.

B. Electrical Properties

The effect of applying a voltage to a metal would cause the free electrons to be attracted
towards the positive end of the sample.

a.) Electrical Resistivity - is an intrinsic property that quantifies how strongly a given
material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that
readily allows the movement of electric charge. Resistivity is commonly represented by
the Greek letter (rho). The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohmmetre (m).
b.) Electrical Conductivity - is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity, and measures a
material's ability to conduct an electric current. It is commonly represented by the Greek
letter (sigma), but (kappa) (especially in electrical engineering) or (gamma) are also
occasionally used. Its SI unit is siemens per metre (S/m),

One of the best material for electrical conduction (low resistivity) is silver, but its use
is restricted due to thehigh cost.
Most widely used conductor is copper: inexpensive, abundant, high , but rather soft
cannot be used in applications where mechanical strength is important.

C. Thermal Properties

Heat Capacity - is a property that is indicative of a materials ability to absorb heat from
the external surroundings; it represents the amount of energy required to produce a unit
temperature rise. Metals have high heat capacity.
Thermal Expansion it is the property that characterizes length change due to heat. The
fractional change in length is proportional to the temperature change.

Thermal Conduction it is the property that characterizes the ability of a material to

transfer heat. Metals are extremely good conductors of heat because relatively large
numbers of free electrons exist that participate in thermal conduction.
Thermal Stresses As a metal expands, the restraints holding the metal will experience
stress. This is because of the expansion caused by an increase in temperature. Metals are
not prone to fracture due to thermal stress.

D. Magnetic Properties
Magnetic Moment - is a quantity that determines the torque it will experience in an
external magnetic field. A loop of electric current, a bar magnet, an electron, a molecule, and
a planet all have magnetic moments.
The magnetic moment may be considered to be a vector having a magnitude and
direction. The direction of the magnetic moment points from the south to north pole of the
magnet. The magnetic field produced by the magnet is proportional to its magnetic moment.
More precisely, the term magnetic moment normally refers to a system's magnetic dipole
moment, which produces the first term in the multiple expansion of a general magnetic field. The
dipole component of an object's magnetic field is symmetric about the direction of its magnetic
dipole moment, and decreases as the inverse cube of the distance from the object.

Ferromagnetism is exhibited by iron and several other metals. In addition, other metals
and alloys can be magnetized in an electrical field to exhibit paramagnetism. Magnetic properties
are employed in electric motors, generators, and speaker systems for audio equipment. Emission
Properties: Metals emit electrons when exposed to radiation (e.g. light) of a short wavelength or
when heated to sufficiently high temperatures. These phenomena are exploited in television
screens, using rare earth oxides and in a variety of electronic devices and instruments.
Conversely, the ability of metals such as lead to absorb radiation is employed in shielding, for
example in the apron provided by dentists during an X-ray examination.

E. Optical
Metals are uniformly lustrous and, except for copper and gold, are silvery or greyish.
This is because all metals absorb light at all frequencies and immediately radiate it. Metals impart
mirrors with their reflective surface. The lustre of metals gives them the attractive appearance that
is so important in jewellery and coins.

F. Chemical/Deteriorative

IV.

Usually have 1 3 electrons in their outer shell

Lose their valence electrons easily
Form oxides that are basic
They are good reducing agents
Have lower electronegativities

USES/UTILIZATION

Metals are very useful to people. They are used to make tools because they can be strong and
easy to shape. Iron and steel have been used to make bridges, buildings, or ships.
Some metals are used to make items like coins because they are hard and will not wear away
quickly. For example copper (which is shiny and red in color), aluminum (which is shiny and white),
gold (which is yellow and shiny), and silver and nickel (also white and shiny).
Some metals, like steel, can be made sharp and stay sharp, so they can be used to make
knives, axes or razors.

Rare metals with high value, like gold, silver and platinum are often used to make
jewelry. Metals are also used to make fasteners and screws. Pots used for cooking can be
made from copper, aluminum, steel or iron. Lead is very heavy and dense and can be used as
ballast in boats to stop them from turning over, or to protect people from ionizing radiation.

V.

References
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryglossary/a/metaldef.htm
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/metal.html#ixzz3AYm1UsX4
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/metal.htm
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal#Use_of_metals
http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch13/structure.php
http://www.keytometals.com/Article53.htm

"Materials Science and Engineering Overview" - Sloan Career Cornerstone Center

(www.careercornerstone.org)
Introduction To Materials Science and Engineering, Ch 1 - University of Tennessee, Dept. of
Materials Science and Engineering

http://www.physics.uwo.ca/~lgonchar/courses/p2800/Chapter6_Mechanical_Handouts.pdf
http://depts.washington.edu/chemcrs/bulkdisk/chem484A_spr06/handout_MetalSemiconductor.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity
http://www.engin.brown.edu/organizations/EWB/GISP/Callster%20-%20chapter_17.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_moment
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pertab/metal.html