hereas the fundamental properties of all metallic elements are covered systematically and comprehensively in Chapt. 2.1, this section chapter treats those metals that are applied as base and alloying elements of metallic materials. According to common usage, the section is subdivided into treatments of metallic materials based on a single elements (Mg, Al, Ti, Zr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Pb), and treatments of groups of metals with common dominating features (refractory metals, noble metals). The term metal is used indiscriminately for pure metals and for multicomponent metallic materials, i. e., alloys.The properties of metallic materials depend sensitively not only on their chemical composition and on the electronic and crystal structure of the phases formed, but also to a large degree on their microstructure including the kind and distribution of lattice defects. The phase composition and microstructure of metallic materials are strongly dependent, in turn, on the thermal and mechanical treatments, which are applied under well-controlled conditions to achieve the desired properties. Accordingly, the production of metallic semifinished products and final parts on one hand, and the properties in the final state on the other hand, are usually intricately linked. This also applies to metallic materials treated in other chapters (Chapt. 4.2 on superconductors and Chapt. 4.3 on magnetic materials), as well as to the majority of other inorganic and organic materials.According to the complexity of the interrelations between fundamental (intrinsic) and microstructure-dependent (extrinsic) properties of metallic materials, this section provides a substantial amount of explanatory text. By the same token, the data given are mostly typical examples indicating characteristic ranges of properties achievable rather than providing complete listings. More comprehensive databases are indicated by way of reference.