[deutdeut]

I know that the metallic bond is the attraction between the cations and the sea of valence electrons in a metal, but talking about the structure of the metals, we study how their atoms are arranged. I am confused, actually, do metals consist of atoms or cations?

[xiankai]

cations = atoms minus some electrons

[tamim83]

Metallic bonds exist between two or more metal atoms, cations would not "want" to bind with one another.