An improved electron-gas model is proposed; it predicts the trends in the chemical potentials, cohesive energies, surface energies, and work functions of the simple metals. The uniform electron gas is altered so that it is in mechanical equilibrium at the electron density characteristic of a given metal. This leads to a new rule for splitting the constant background charge when jellium is cleaved. The trends in the energetics of metals result.

• Received 20 September 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.2519