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8 - Metallic Bonding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2011

Gregory S. Rohrer
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

Introduction

When free atoms condense to form a solid, cohesion arises from a change in the occupation and/or distribution of electronic energy levels. In the ionic bonding model, valence electrons move from atomic orbitals on metallic atoms to atomic orbitals on relatively electronegative atoms. Electrostatic cohesion, therefore, results from a change in the occupation of previously existing electronic energy levels on the atoms. In our model for the metallic bond, valence electrons on metallic atoms will be removed from atomic energy levels and placed in crystal energy levels or bands. In this chapter, the band concept is introduced and these new crystal energy levels are described. We begin this chapter with a review of the types of materials that form metallic bonds and a summary of the trends in metallic bond strength.

Materials that are held together by metallic bonds

Figure 8.1 shows a periodic chart in which all of the metallic elements are shaded. The metal–nonmetal definition is the same as that proposed in Chapter 1. Based on this definition, we say that all metallic elements and combinations of metallic elements are bonded metallically.

Phenomenological trends in metallic bonding

The strength of the metallic bond varies with the interatomic separation and the atomic valence. Specifically, the bond strength (as measured by the cohesive energy, Ec, and the melting temperature, Tm) increases as the interatomic separation decreases and as the number of valence electrons increases.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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  • Metallic Bonding
  • Gregory S. Rohrer, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Structure and Bonding in Crystalline Materials
  • Online publication: 23 February 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816116.009
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  • Metallic Bonding
  • Gregory S. Rohrer, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Structure and Bonding in Crystalline Materials
  • Online publication: 23 February 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816116.009
Available formats
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  • Metallic Bonding
  • Gregory S. Rohrer, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Structure and Bonding in Crystalline Materials
  • Online publication: 23 February 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816116.009
Available formats
×