Classes of metals products with soft bases, which are bases with covalent bonds. The IUPAC Gold Book provides a more general definition of a class (a) metal ion, as "A metal ion that combines preferentially with ligands containing ligating atoms that are the lightest of their Periodic Group", and a class (b) metal as one that combines preferentially with ligands containing ligating atoms other than the lightest of their Periodic Group. Classes of metals Class A metals are metals that form hard acids. Hard acids are acids with relatively ionic bonds. These metals, such as iron, aluminium, titanium, sodium, calcium and the lanthanides,
Refractory metals 1900 K. An environment must not interact with the material in question. Liquid alkali metals as the heat transfer fluids are used as well as the ultra-high vacuum. The high-temperature creep strain of alloys must be limited for them to be used. The creep strain should not exceed 1–2%. An additional complication in studying creep behavior of the refractory metals is interactions with environment, which can significantly influence the creep behavior. Refractory metals Refractory metals are a class of metals that are extraordinarily resistant to heat and wear. The expression is mostly used in the context of materials science, metallurgy