Magnesium band theory

Figure 1.7. Electron level density diagram for magnesium based on simple band theory the overlap...

There have been many attempts to correlate the outstanding chemisorptive and catalytic properties of the Groups 8-10 metals with the presence of an incomplete d-band or unfilled d-orbitals. According to the Band Theory, electrical conduction requires excitation to energy levels above the Fermi surface, so that substances that have only completely filled bands will be insulators. A metal such as magnesium for example is a good conductor because it possesses a partly filled hybrid sp band. By the same token, it is easier to carry a full bottle of mercury than a half-full one, because it doesn t slop about so much. 

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