Metallic Bonding: What Is A Metallic Bond?

metallic bonding
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METALLIC BONDING
This page introduces the bonding in metals. It explains how the
metallic bond arises and why its strength varies from metal to
metal.
What is a metallic bond?

Metallic bonding in sodium
Metals tend to have high melting points and boiling points
suggesting strong bonds between the atoms. Even a metal like
sodium (melting point 97.8C) melts at a considerably higher
temperature than the element (neon) which precedes it in the
Periodic Table.
Sodium has the electronic structure 1s22s22p63s1. When sodium
atoms come together, the electron in the 3s atomic orbital of one
sodium atom shares space with the corresponding electron on a
neighbouring atom to form a molecular orbital - in much the
same sort of way that a covalent bond is formed.
The difference, however, is that each sodium atom is being
touched by eight other sodium atoms - and the sharing occurs
between the central atom and the 3s orbitals on all of the eight
other atoms. And each of these eight is in turn being touched by
eight sodium atoms, which in turn are touched by eight atoms and so on and so on, until you have taken in all the atoms in that
lump of sodium.
All of the 3s orbitals on all of the atoms overlap to give a vast
number of molecular orbitals which extend over the whole piece
of metal. There have to be huge numbers of molecular orbitals,
of course, because any orbital can only hold two electrons.
The electrons can move freely within these molecular orbitals,
and so each electron becomes detached from its parent atom.
The electrons are said to be delocalised. The metal is held
together by the strong forces of attraction between the positive
nuclei and the delocalised electrons.
This is sometimes described as "an array of positive ions in a

sea of electrons".
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If you are going to use this view, beware! Is a metal made up of
atoms or ions? It is made of atoms.
Each positive centre in the diagram represents all the rest of the
atom apart from the outer electron, but that electron hasn't been
lost - it may no longer have an attachment to a particular atom,
but it's still there in the structure. Sodium metal is therefore
written as Na - not Na+.
Metallic bonding in magnesium
If you work through the same argument with magnesium, you
end up with stronger bonds and so a higher melting point.
Magnesium has the outer electronic structure 3s2. Both of these
electrons become delocalised, so the "sea" has twice the
electron density as it does in sodium. The remaining "ions" also
have twice the charge (if you are going to use this particular
view of the metal bond) and so there will be more attraction
between "ions" and "sea".
More realistically, each magnesium atom has 12 protons in the
nucleus compared with sodium's 11. In both cases, the nucleus
is screened from the delocalised electrons by the same number
of inner electrons - the 10 electrons in the 1s2 2s2 2p6 orbitals.
That means that there will be a net pull from the magnesium
nucleus of 2+, but only 1+ from the sodium nucleus.
So not only will there be a greater number of delocalised
electrons in magnesium, but there will also be a greater
attraction for them from the magnesium nuclei.
Magnesium atoms also have a slightly smaller radius than
sodium atoms, and so the delocalised electrons are closer to the
nuclei. Each magnesium atom also has twelve near neighbours
rather than sodium's eight. Both of these factors increase the
strength of the bond still further.
Metallic bonding in transition elements
Transition metals tend to have particularly high melting points
and boiling points. The reason is that they can involve the 3d
electrons in the delocalisation as well as the 4s. The more
electrons you can involve, the stronger the attractions tend to
be.
Note: If you aren't happy about the electronic structure of transition
metals, then you might like to follow this link to revise it.
The metallic bond in molten metals
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In a molten metal, the metallic bond is still present, although the
ordered structure has been broken down. The metallic bond isn't
fully broken until the metal boils. That means that boiling point is
actually a better guide to the strength of the metallic bond than
melting point is. On melting, the bond is loosened, not broken.
Questions to test your understanding
If this is the first set of questions you have done, please read the
introductory page before you start. You will need to use the BACK
BUTTON on your browser to come back here afterwards.
questions on metallic bonding
answers
Where would you like to go now?

To explore the structure of metals . . .
To the bonding menu . . .
To the atomic structure and bonding menu . . .
To Main Menu . . .
Jim Clark 2000 (modified September 2012)
25-Jul-14

Metallic Bonding: What Is A Metallic Bond?

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metallic bonding

What is a metallic bond?

This is sometimes described as "an array of positive ions in a

The metallic bond in molten metals

Where would you like to go now?

Jim Clark 2000 (modified September 2012)

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