Question

Zinc is very less malleable.
A.True
B.False

Answer 1

Hint:The malleability of a substance is defined as its ability to be beaten into sheets. Generally metals are only malleable and non-metals are non-malleable. But not all the metals are malleable.

Complete answer:
The malleability of a substance depends on the elasticity of it. The more a metal is elastic, the malleable it would be. In other words, for a substance to be malleable, it must have the ability to perform under compressive stress. The alkali metals are very soft, so much that they can be cut by knife and hence they are non-malleable. Similarly, the alkaline earth metals are also non-malleable.
The transition metals are mostly malleable in nature due to their ability to perform under compressive stress. There are a number of electrons in the d-orbitals which makes the metallic bond stronger and it becomes stronger with the increase in the number of the d-electrons. But there are exceptions to this as well. As the last member of the transition family, the elements have the maximum number of d-electrons that the orbitals can accommodate and hence the atoms have an inert nature and this metallic zinc brittle at ordinary temperature.

Hence, the statement is true.

Note:
Metallic zinc is malleable only in the temperature range of \[{110^0}{\text{C}} - {150^0}{\text{C}}\] . The metal is white in colour with a bluish tinge or shine. It is fairly reactive and reacts with non-metals like oxygen, hydrogen, sulphur, etc. it liberates hydrogen from steam and reacts with acids to form salts. It is amphoteric in nature and also an important essential mineral for the human body.