In metal solids, the _____________ electrons form a shared electron cloud.
Metallic bonding may be described as the sharing of free electrons among a lattice of positively charged metal ions. The structure of metallic bonds is very different from that of covalent and ionic bonds. While ionic bonds join metals to nonmetals, and covalent bonds join nonmetals to nonmetals, metallic bonds are responsible for the bonding between metal atoms. In metallic bonds, the valence electrons from the s and p orbitals of the interacting metal atoms delocalize. That is to say, instead of orbiting their respective metal atoms, they form a sea of electrons that surrounds the positively charged atomic nuclei of the interacting metal ions. The electrons then move freely throughout the space between the atomic nuclei.