Bonds

Metallic bonds

The metallic crystals result from the regular arrangement of atoms of the same element through the metallic bonds.

The loosely bounded valence electrons of atoms are free to move from one atom to the other. Therefore theses electrons do not belong to a particular atom. The neutral atoms after losing valence electrons are charged positively. These positive charged ions are called as “Kernels”(the atoms without valence electrons). Thus the freely moving electrons form an atmosphere of uniform negative charge around the kernels. This atmosphere is called an “Electron sea” or “Electron Gas”.

There are two types of forces operative in the metallic crystals. The  attractive forces between Electron Sea and kernels and the forces of repulsions between kernels themselves. Therefore the positive ions must be held at some distance apart, where the two forces are balanced. The electron-Kernel attractions which hold the metal ions in their respective localized positions are called as Metallic bonds.