How is a metal formed?
Friday, June 5, 2020 - 04:30
in Physics & Chemistry
What does it mean to be a metal? How is a metal formed? These seem like textbook questions with a simple answer: Metal is characterized by free electrons that give rise to high electric conductivity. But how, exactly, is a metallic conduction band formed from originally localized electrons, and what is the corresponding microscopic picture for the material involved?