Group 12 element divalent metals. They have the lowest melting points among all transition metals. Zinc is bluish-white and lustrous, though most common commercial grades of the metal have a dull finish. Zinc is also referred to in nonscientific contexts as "spelter". Cadmium is soft, malleable, ductile, and with a bluish-white color. Mercury is a liquid, heavy, silvery-white metal. It is the only common liquid metal at ordinary temperatures, and as compared to other metals, it is a poor conductor of heat, but a fair conductor of electricity. The table below is a summary of the key physical properties of the group 12
Metal oxide adhesion effect or RE effect. Many mechanics theories exist on this topic. The majority of them attribute the increase in adhesion strength to the greater thermodynamic stability of the impurity element bonded with oxygen than the metal bonded to the oxygen. Inserting yttrium into nickel alloys to strengthen the oxide adhesion is an example of the reactive element effect. Dislocations are thermodynamically unstable, kinetically trapped defects. Surface dislocations often create a screw dislocation when stress is applied. In certain cases, screw dislocations can negate the nucleation energy barrier for crystal growth. The adsorption of a monolayer of gas atoms is either