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Periodic table of the chemical elements showing the most or more commonly named sets of elements (in periodic tables), and a traditional dividing line between metals and nonmetals. The f-block actually fits between groups 2 and 3 ; it is usually shown at the foot of the table to save horizontal space.
The latter property manifests in the capacity of nitrogen to form usually strong hydrogen bonds, and its preference for forming complexes with metals having low electronegativities, small cationic radii, and often high charges (+3 or more). Nitrogen is a poor oxidising agent (N 2 + 6e − → 2NH 3 = −0.057 V at pH 0).
Like the periodic table, the list below organizes the elements by the number of protons in their atoms; it can also be organized by other properties, such as atomic weight, density, and electronegativity. For more detailed information about the origins of element names, see List of chemical element name etymologies.
The dividing line between metals and nonmetals can be found, in varying configurations, on some representations of the periodic table of the elements (see mini-example, right). Elements to the lower left of the line generally display increasing metallic behaviour; elements to the upper right display increasing nonmetallic behaviour.
For example, the periodic table in the Encyclopaedia Britannica recognizes noble gases, halogens, and other nonmetals, and splits the elements commonly recognized as metalloids between "other metals" and "other nonmetals". [103] On the other hand, seven of twelve color categories on the Royal Society of Chemistry periodic table include nonmetals.
The nonmetallic elements are sometimes instead divided into two to seven alternative classes or sets according to, for example, electronegativity; the relative homogeneity of the halogens; molecular structure; the peculiar nature of hydrogen; the corrosive nature of oxygen and the halogens; their respective groups; and variations thereupon.
Many other names for sets of elements are in common use; others have been used throughout history. These sets usually do not aim to cover the whole periodic table (as for example period does), and often overlap or have boundaries that differ between authors. Some examples: Metals and nonmetals
The characteristic properties of elemental metals and nonmetals are quite distinct, as shown in the table below. Metalloids, straddling the metal-nonmetal border , are mostly distinct from either, but in a few properties resemble one or the other, as shown in the shading of the metalloid column below and summarized in the small table at the top ...