Misconceptions about Metals

Abstract

There are widespread misconceptions about the metallic bond and properties of metals in text-books and online resources in chemical education. This is surprising in view of the evident importance of metals and alloys in the modern World. Contrary to what is widely stated in the chemistry literature, Encyclopedia Britannica online, Wikipedia, ChatGPT, Google Bard and a recently published infographic on the Royal Society of Chemistry Web site, the electrostatic attraction between ion cores and free electrons in a simple metal is not sufficient to prevent it from disintegrating into its constituent atoms. It is also not true that localization of electrons is the reason for the difference between electronic conduction in metals and most insulators. The electrical resistance of metallic crystals is due to deviations from perfect structural and chemical order. The treatment in the same sources of processes within a crystalline metal when its shape is changed permanently bear no relation to experimental reality. Using almost no mathematics this article offers an insight at an accessible level into current thinking in chemistry and physics about metallic bonding and the properties of metals for teachers and students of chemistry in high schools and universities.