Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
A metalloid is an element that possesses a preponderance of properties in between, or that are a mixture of, those of metals and nonmetals, and which is therefore hard to classify as either a metal or a nonmetal. This is a generic definition that draws on metalloid attributes consistently cited in the literature.
By as early as 1866, some authors began preferring the term "nonmetal" over "metalloid" to describe nonmetallic elements. [204] In 1875, Kemshead [205] observed that elements were categorized into two groups: non-metals (or metalloids) and metals. He noted that the term "non-metal", despite its compound nature, was more precise and had become ...
This line has been called the amphoteric line, [2] the metal-nonmetal line, [3] the metalloid line, [4] [5] the semimetal line, [6] or the staircase. [2] [n 1] While it has also been called the Zintl border [8] or the Zintl line [9] [10] these terms instead refer to a vertical line sometimes drawn between groups 13 and 14.
The term noble metal (also for elements) is commonly used in opposition to base metal. Noble metals are less reactive, resistant to corrosion or oxidation, [49] unlike most base metals. They tend to be precious metals, often due to perceived rarity. Examples include gold, platinum, silver, rhodium, iridium, and palladium.
Periodic table extract showing the location of the post-transition metals. Zn, Cd and Hg are sometimes counted as post-transition metals rather than as transition metals. The dashed line is the traditional dividing line between metals and nonmetals. The symbols for the elements commonly recognized as metalloids are in italics. The status of ...
An alternative in metallurgy is to consider various malleable alloys such as steel, aluminium alloys and similar as metals, and other materials as nonmetals; [20] fabricating metals is termed metalworking, [21] but there is no corresponding term for nonmetals. A loose definition such as this is often the common usage, but can also be inaccurate.
By as early as 1866 some authors were instead using the term nonmetal, rather than metalloid, to refer to nonmetallic elements. [29] In 1875, Kemshead observed that the elements had been subdivided into two classes—'non-metals or metalloids, and metals.' He added that '[t]he former term, although not so convenient, because a compound word, is ...