Why are metals used to make electric wire and electrical goods?

1 Answer
anor277
Aug 7, 2018

Metals have THREE characteristic properties...

Explanation:

#(i)# #"Metals are malleable."# They can be beaten into a sheet (cf. Latin, malleus , hammer).

#(ii)# #"Metals are ductile."# They can be drawn out into a wire.

#(iii)# #"Metals are conductive to heat and electricity."#

These properties are conceived to arise from the common description of metals: positive ions in a sea of electrons, the which allows movement of metal atoms with respect to each other WITHOUT disrupting the metallic bond. Ask your teacher for a SMALL bit of sodium. If you put this in a plastic bag you can roll it out with a bottle as you would with a sheet of pastry. Of course, you got to dispose of the sodium afterwards, but your teacher will know how to do this....

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