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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.
It is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, being mainly deposited by meteorites in its metallic state. Extracting usable metal from iron ores requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching 1,500 °C (2,730 °F), about 500 °C (932 °F) higher than that required to smelt copper .
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 chemical element, often simply called an element, is a type of atom which has a specific number of protons in its atomic nucleus (i.e., a specific atomic number, or Z). [ 1 ] The definitive visualisation of all 118 elements is the periodic table of the elements , whose history along the principles of the periodic law was one of the founding ...
Elements in the same group tend to show similar chemical characteristics. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal trends characterize the periodic table. Metallic character increases going down a group and from right to left across a period. Nonmetallic character increases going from the bottom left of the periodic table to the top right.
A noble metal is ordinarily regarded as a metallic element that is generally resistant to corrosion and is usually found in nature in its raw form. Gold , platinum , and the other platinum group metals ( ruthenium , rhodium , palladium , osmium , iridium ) are most often so classified.
A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure; [a] the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature. [b]
In the early work on the chemical composition of the sun the only elements that were detected in spectra were hydrogen and various metals, [11]: 23–24 with the term metallic frequently used when describing them. [11]: Part 2 In contemporary usage in astronomy all the extra elements beyond just hydrogen and helium are termed metallic.