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Physically, they are usually lighter (less dense) than elements that form metals and are often poor conductors of heat and electricity. Chemically, nonmetals have relatively high electronegativity or usually attract electrons in a chemical bond with another element, and their oxides tend to be acidic.
The chemical elements can be broadly divided into metals, metalloids, and nonmetals according to their shared physical and chemical properties.All elemental metals have a shiny appearance (at least when freshly polished); are good conductors of heat and electricity; form alloys with other metallic elements; and have at least one basic oxide.
Nonmetals show more variability in their properties than do metals. [1] Metalloids are included here since they behave predominately as chemically weak nonmetals.. Physically, they nearly all exist as diatomic or monatomic gases, or polyatomic solids having more substantial (open-packed) forms and relatively small atomic radii, unlike metals, which are nearly all solid and close-packed, and ...
For instance metalloids are often used in high-temperature alloys, [29] and nonmetals in precipitation hardening in steels and other alloys. [30] Here the description implicitly includes information on whether the dopants tend to be electron acceptors that lead to covalently bonded compounds rather than metallic bonding or electron acceptors.
However, 2+ ions (Be 2+) or even 1+ (Li +) show some polarizing power because their sizes are so small (e.g., LiI is ionic but has some covalent bonding present). Note that this is not the ionic polarization effect that refers to the displacement of ions in the lattice due to the application of an electric field.
Most metal iodides with the metal in low oxidation states (+1 to +3) are ionic. Nonmetals tend to form covalent molecular iodides, as do metals in high oxidation states from +3 and above. Both ionic and covalent iodides are known for metals in oxidation state +3 (e.g. scandium iodide is mostly ionic, but aluminium iodide is not).
Like gold, which can form compounds containing the −1 auride ion, platinum can form compounds containing platinide ions, such as the Zintl phases BaPt, Ba 3 Pt 2 and Ba 2 Pt, being the first (unambiguous) transition metal to do so. [21] Darmstadtium should be similar to its lighter homologue platinum. It is expected to have a close-packed ...
Most metal chlorides with the metal in low oxidation states (+1 to +3) are ionic. Nonmetals tend to form covalent molecular chlorides, as do metals in high oxidation states from +3 and above. Both ionic and covalent chlorides are known for metals in oxidation state +3 (e.g. scandium chloride is mostly ionic, but aluminium chloride is not).