METALS COME FROM THE EARTHS LIMITED SUPPLY OF ORES

3 Metals Come from the Earth s Limited Supply of Ores 

se them to build homes, appliances, cars, bridges, airplanes, and skyscrapers. We stretch metal wire across poles to transmit communication. signals and electricity. We wear metal jewelry, exchange metal currency, and drink from metal cans. Yet, what is it that gives a metal its metallic properties We can answer this question by looking at the behavior of the atoms of the metallic elements. 

The outer electrons of most metal atoms tend to be weakly held to the atomic nucleus. 

The mobility of electrons in a metal accounts for the metal s significant ability to conduct electricity and heat. Also, metals are opaque and. shiny because the free electrons easily vibrate to the o.scillations of any li t fkllingon them, reflecting most of it. Furthermore, the metal ions are not rigidly held to fixed positions, as ions are in an ionic crystal. Rather, because the metal ions arc held together by a fluid of electrons, these ions can move into varioas orientations relative to one another, which Is what happens when a metal is pounded, pulled, or molded into a different shape. 

Metal ions arc held together by freely flowing elecTroiTs. These loose electrons fomi a kind of electronic fluid that flows through the lattice of positively chaig ions. 

Two or more metals can be bonded to each other by metallic bonds. This occurs, for example, when molten gold and molten palladium are blended to form the homogeneous solution known as white gold. The quality of the white gold can be modified simply by changing the proportions of gold and palladium. White gold is an example of an alloy, which is any mixture composed of two or more metallic elements. 

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