Question

What category of elements are chacterized by their ability to reflect light, called luster, their high electrical and thermal conductivity, their high heat capacity, and their malleability and ductility?

Answer 1

metals

Metallic Solids Metals are characterized by their ability to reflect light, called luster, their high electrical and thermal conductivity, their high heat capacity, and their malleability and ductility. Every lattice point in a pure metallic element is occupied by an atom of the same metal. The packing efficiency in metallic crystals tends to be high, so the resulting metallic solids are dense, with each atom having as many as 12 nearest neighbors. Bonding in metallic solids is quite different from the bonding in the other kinds of solids we have discussed. Because all the atoms are the same, there can be no ionic bonding, yet metals always contain too few electrons or valence orbitals to form covalent bonds with each of their neighbors. Instead, the valence electrons are delocalized throughout the crystal, providing a strong cohesive force that holds the metal atoms together.