Question

Explain metals conduct electricity.

Answer 1

Hint: Metals have a property of losing electrons very easily. The metallic character of the elements decreases as we are moving from left to right in the periodic table. Means the elements lose their capability of conductance electricity as we are moving from left to right in the periodic table.

Complete step by step answer:
-Normally metals have free valence electrons means electrons are present in the outermost orbital and attracted by the nucleus in a poor manner.
-By applying a minimum amount of energy we can make them move freely in the lattice.
-Metals conduct electricity because the electrons inside the metal are quite free to move. Therefore when minimum electricity is passing through the metals, the free electrons carry electricity and distribute it throughout the metal.
-The reason for the conductance of electricity by metals is the presence of valence electrons only.
-The valence electrons travel through the lattice of the metal and carry the electric charge with them.
-Metals have very less band gap between valence band and conduction band, sometimes they are overlapped also. So, they allow the passage of electricity through them easily.

Additional Information:
- Metals have a lot of applications in our daily life like in electronics, in electric wire, in medicine, in Machinery, and in automobiles.
-Metals can be used in decorative products.

Note: Metal loses its loosely bound valence electrons and converts into cation and allows the passage of more electrons through it. In case of semiconductors, the gap between the conduction band and the valence band is small. To make semiconductors into metals we have to increase the temperature.