Question

Why zinc is a soft metal?

Answer 1

Soft metal:

1. At roughly room temperature, soft materials are materials that are easily deformed by thermal pressures or thermal variations.
2. Liquids, polymers, foams, gels, colloids, granular solids, and most soft biological materials are examples of soft materials.

Zinc is a soft metal:

1. Zinc (Zn) is a soft metal with an electrical structure that is particularly stable (full-filled stable configuration).
2. As a result, the metallic connections in them are weak.
3. They have a high ability to oxidize to the $+2$oxidation state.
4. The electronic configuration $=\left(\mathrm{Zn}\right)\text{is}\left[Ar\right]4s^{2}3d^{10}$
5. Because it contains no unpaired electrons, zinc has a low enthalpy of atomization.
6. As a result of the fully filled s and d-shells, Zn has a stable electronic structure.
7. As a result, it is unable to make metallic bonds, as elements that form metallic bonds are known to be hard in nature.