The Properties of Metals, Ionic Compounds, Covalent Substances

Properties of Metals

Metals are highly conductive, meaning they are excellent at transferring heat and electricity.
They are malleable and ductile, meaning metals can be shaped, bent, and drawn into wires without breaking.
Metals are usually high density materials. This means they tend to be heavy for their size.
They have high melting and boiling points due to strong metallic bonding.
Metals also have a high tensile strength, making them resistant to breaking when pulled apart.

Ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points. This is because ionic bonding is strong and requires a lot of heat energy to break.
They are generally soluble in water. This happens because the positive and negative ions in ionic compounds are attracted to the polar water molecules.
In their solid state, ionic compounds are poor conductors of electricity. This is because their ions are tightly held in place and cannot move freely.
However, when melted or dissolved in water, ionic compounds become good conductors of electricity. This is because their ions can move freely and carry electric charges.

Covalent substances come in two types: simple molecular and giant covalent structures. Their properties vary depending on which type they are.
Simple molecular substances have low melting and boiling points due to the weak forces, known as Van der Waals forces, between the molecules.
They are generally insoluble in water (but soluble in organic solvents) and poor conductors of electricity. This is because they don’t have ions or delocalised electrons to carry charge.
Giant covalent structures, on the other hand, have very high melting and boiling points. This is because they have a network of covalent bonds which take a large amount of energy to break.
They are usually insoluble in water and do not conduct electricity (with the exception of graphite and graphene, which have delocalised electrons).