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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.
The general science of metals is called metallurgy, a subtopic of materials science; aspects of the electronic and thermal properties are also within the scope of condensed matter physics and solid-state chemistry, it is a multidisciplinary topic.
A material property is an intensive property of a material, i.e., a physical property or chemical property that does not depend on the amount of the material. These quantitative properties may be used as a metric by which the benefits of one material versus another can be compared, thereby aiding in materials selection.
It is a synthesis of physical sciences such as chemistry, solid mechanics, solid state physics, and materials science. Materials physics is considered a subset of condensed matter physics and applies fundamental condensed matter concepts to complex multiphase media, including materials of technological interest. Current fields that materials ...
This word-use is distinct from the conventional chemical or physical definition of a metal as an electrically conducting solid. Stars and nebulae with relatively high abundances of heavier elements are called "metal-rich" when discussing metallicity, even though many of those elements are called nonmetals in chemistry.
'Nonmolecular' would perhaps be a better term. Metallic bonding is mostly non-polar, because even in alloys there is little difference among the electronegativities of the atoms participating in the bonding interaction (and, in pure elemental metals, none at all). Thus, metallic bonding is an extremely delocalized communal form of covalent bonding.
Metallic and non-metallic properties [ edit ] Metallic properties generally increase down the groups , as decreasing attraction between the nuclei and outermost electrons causes these electrons to be more loosely bound and thus able to conduct heat and electricity .
Metal ions and metallic compounds are often used in medical treatments and diagnoses. [18] Compounds containing metal ions can be used as medicine, such as lithium compounds and auranofin. [19] [20] Metal compounds and ions can also produce harmful effects on the body due to the toxicity of several types of metals. [18]