If a material contains highly directional bonds, the shear modulus will increase and give a low Poisson ratio.
2.
All actinides are hybridization of 5 " f " and 6 " d " orbitals and the formation of directional bonds in these metals.
3.
After thorium, there is a new smooth trend downward in the melting points of the early actinides from thorium to plutonium where the number of f electrons increases from about 0.4 to about 6, due to the itinerance of the f-orbitals, increasing hybridisation of the 5f and 6d orbitals and the formation of directional bonds in the metal resulting in increasingly complex crystal structures and weakened metallic bonding.