Hi, I'm a chem brainlet >mercury becomes liquid at very

The phase changes of materials are pretty much dictated by the interactions of atoms. Mercury is a liquid at room temperature because the average kinetic energy of the particles (which is what temperature describes in the first place) is enough to overcome the forces that would hold the atoms together in a crystal lattice. Tungsten probably has such a high melting point because its electron configuration/size/interaction with other W atoms is such that it has an incredibly stable crystal structure, relative to other metals.

This stuff really doesn't have much to do with them being metals however, because the theory behind melting/freezing points applies to all materials. "Metal" is a label given to elements that tend to have similar chemical behaviors that are a result of how their electrons are arranged around the nucleus, e.g. they are conductive because they freely share electrons with each other, they are likely to give up electrons in a chemical reaction, and some other features that I can't name off the top of my head. They also tend to be more ductile and malleable than nonmetals in the solid state, which mechanically tend to be a bit brittle. I'm probably missing some more details.

Those are physical properties while metals are usually defined by their chemical properties (how they act in molecules). Actually I don't think metals are really rigorously defined but they can generally form solids of atoms of purely one element, as in mercury metal which is a liquid at room temperature. I haven't studied this specifically but I'm sure it's because pure metal solids are arranged in a lattice that is very stable (imagine putting ping pong balls into a box and shaking it around, they will form a dense lattice). The energy required to take an atom from this lattice is well-defined and for Mercury it isn't as large as it is for Tungsten or other metals. High temperature means a higher energy enviroment that can transfer the energy it the metals. Taking an atom from the lattice can mean either making it a gas (completely off the solid) or a liquid (semi-attached to the other liquid atoms).

>>9118615
god wanted it to be that way

>>9118615
Ask God