Why is sodium ductile

Properties of metals Physical properties Typical physical properties of metals : high melting points good conductors of electricity good conductors of heat high density malleable ductile Some metals have properties that are not typical. For example: mercury a metal has a low melting point and exists as a liquid at room temperature elements in group 1 have low melting points, but also low densities, for example, sodium is less dense than water and so it floats A substance with a high density means it has a high mass for its size.

Melting point and boiling point When a metal melts or boils, this is a change of physical state. Conduction of electricity Substances conduct electricity because they contain charged particles that are able to move. Simple molecular. Magnesium chloride. MgCl 2. Under these circumstances, the metal is said to be elastic. If a larger stress is put on, the atoms roll over each other into a new position, and the metal is permanently changed. This rolling of layers of atoms over each other is hindered by grain boundaries because the rows of atoms don't line up properly.

It follows that the more grain boundaries there are the smaller the individual crystal grains , the harder the metal becomes. Offsetting this, because the grain boundaries are areas where the atoms aren't in such good contact with each other, metals tend to fracture at grain boundaries. Increasing the number of grain boundaries not only makes the metal harder, but also makes it more brittle.

If you have a pure piece of metal, you can control the size of the grains by heat treatment or by working the metal. Heating a metal tends to shake the atoms into a more regular arrangement - decreasing the number of grain boundaries, and so making the metal softer.

Banging the metal around when it is cold tends to produce lots of small grains. Cold working therefore makes a metal harder. To restore its workability, you would need to reheat it. You can also break up the regular arrangement of the atoms by inserting atoms of a slightly different size into the structure. Alloys such as brass a mixture of copper and zinc are harder than the original metals because the irregularity in the structure helps to stop rows of atoms from slipping over each other.

If this is the first set of questions you have done, please read the introductory page before you start. The structure of metals The arrangement of the atoms Metals are giant structures of atoms held together by metallic bonds. Non-metallic character follows the opposite pattern. This is because of the other trends: ionization energy, electron affinity, and electronegativity. You will notice a jagged line running through the periodic table starting between boron and aluminum — this is the separation between metallic and non-metallic elements, with some elements close to the line exhibiting characteristics of each.

The metals are toward the left and center of the periodic table, in the s, d, and f blocks. Poor metals and metalloids somewhat metal, somewhat non-metal are in the lower left of the p block. Non-metals are on the right of the table.

Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:. Skip to main content. Periodic Properties. Search for:. Examples: Most metals are good examples of ductile materials, including gold, silver, copper, erbium, terbium, and samarium. Examples of metals that are not very ductile include tungsten and high-carbon steel.

Nonmetals are not generally ductile. Originally Answered: Which metal is malleable but not ductile? It is Zinc as it can be made into thin plates on hammering but can not be drawn into thin wires. Thus Zinc is malleable but not ductile. Physical properties Titanium metal is brittle when cold and can break apart easily at room temperature. At higher temperatures, it becomes malleable and ductile.

When alloyed with Ti, the resulting titanium alloy is significantly stronger than commercially pure titanium while retaining comparable stiffness and thermal characteristics. As mentioned, Grade 5 has properties similar to human bones which makes it the popular choice for orthopedic medical devices. Extra-hard alloys Its tensile strength to density ratio is the highest among all metals, beating tungsten, which, however, scores higher than titanium on the Mohs scale.