Metals lie on the left side of the periodic table similar to ionic bonding bonds that form between metals form a lattice structure metals have a small number of veence electrons and therefore will tend to lose these electrons to form cations ions when no other element is present to receive the transfer of electrons to form an ionic bond Metals form laes of cations with their valence electrons becoming delocalized this CA of delocalized electrons are not permanently attached to any one metal cation but rather each electron is free to move within the lattice this describes metallic bonding it is the strength of these bonds that will determine a Metal's physical properties Metals typically have the following characteristics as a result of their metallic bonds they have excellent electrical and thermal conductivity which is caused by the mobility of their electrons metals have high melting and boiling points this is caused by their relatively High bond strength metals are ductile and malleable this results from the space between each metal cation allowing the cations to move and slide past one another without disrupting the metallic bonding lastly metals have luster which results from the ability of the delocalized electrons to interact with light the strength of the metallic bond affects each of these properties strength will specifically depend on the number of valence electrons the size of the metallic cation and how closely the cations can pack within a lattice structure for example let's compare atoms of potassium and calcium it's apparent that potassium has one veence electron while calcium has two and its additional energy level the valence electrons of these two atoms will delize creating the potassium and calcium ions and a lattice structure the calcium ion ca2+ is smaller than the potassium ion k+ this is due to the increased effective nuclear charge experienced by the remaining electrons in calcium this coupled with calcium's increased number of delocalized electrons allows us to expect calcium to demonstrate stronger metallic bonding than potassium this is reflected in their melting points the melting point of potassium is measured to be 63.5° in comparison calcium's melting point is measured to be 842 de C proving that calcium has much stronger metallic bonds when examining the size of the metal cation alone without a variation and its number of veence electrons Metals with fewer energy levels exhibit stronger metallic bonding as their smaller ionic radius allows them to pack more tightly into their lattice and feel stronger attractive forces we see this trend in the melting points of group one alkaline metals as we go down the group ionic radius increases due to the increasing number of energy levels as a result we find that melting point increases in the opposite direction with smaller Metals such as lithium forming the strongest metallic bonds of the group the properties of metals which result from metallic bonding have always made Metals incredibly useful materials throughout human history dating back to the Bronze Age over 5,000 years ago people learned that the properties of metals can be approved and enhanced by mixing metallic elements to make alloys in the Bronze Age humans created just that by mixing Solutions of molten copper and Tin bronze was used to create enhanced tools and weapons as it had an increased hardness and durability a resistance to corrosion and was more workable for Craftsmen compared to its individual components the differences in the size of metals and an alloy allow for differences in the integration of other elements into the metallic structure structure we could see examples where other elements fit in the interstitial space between the metal cations and a lattice this happens in steel where carbon atoms fill the interstitial space between iron cations ions in contrast when the size of two metals are similar we see situations where metal ions take the place of or substitute for the metal cations originally in a structure this happens in nichrome where cations of chromium substitute in place for nickel throughout the structure the delocalized electrons Within These Alloys are still free to move but depending on the metallic elements and their relative composition within the alloy properties change and can be improved bronze brass steel putor nichrome sterling silver and the varieties of gold such as white and Rose are all examples of useful Alloys in summary metallic bonding is unique with its sea of delocalized electrons that allow metals to conduct electricity while also being malleable and workable we can mix Metals together to form Alloys which can enhance a Metal's characteristics it's because of these characteristics that we see Metals play a vital role throughout the history of human kind with advances in our understanding of metals corresponding with our technological and Industrial leaps as a society