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Chemistry: Challenges and Solutions

Metallic Bonding (animation)

The outermost electrons in a metal atom can move freely between nearby positive metal atom nuclei as if they were a sea of negative charge. These electrons are attracted to all the positively charged nuclei, not just one. The collective attraction between the sea of electrons and the lattice of nuclei holds the metals together.

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Chemistry: Challenges and Solutions

Credits

Produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. 2014.
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