OxScience

Metals

This is the name given to all the chemical elements characterized by being good conductors of heat and electricity. They are characterized by having a high density and by being solid at room temperature with the notable exception of mercury. Being in solution, its salts form electropositive ions.

According to materials science, a metal is that material in which there is an overlap between the valence band and the conduction band in its electronic structure. This is what gives it the ability to conduct heat and electricity as well as the ability to reflect light.

These types of materials react chemically with non-metals.

The metals include the alkali and alkaline earth as well as the transition metals.

Metals make up most of the periodic table.

No metals

Non-metals are chemical elements that are not good conductors of electricity and heat. They are weak and cannot be stretched or made into sheets.

Of the 118 known elements, only 25 are non-metals. They have very diverse chemistry and are often essential to biological systems.

In the group of nonmetals, we find halogens and noble gases, some are not in these groups. Hydrogen’s unique properties set it apart from the other elements.

Nonmetals are the elements to the right on the Periodic Table of Elements.

suggested video: Metals vs Non-metals

Differences between Metals and Non-metals

• Metals are lustrous elements with low electronegativity and low ionization energy, so they give up electrons and hardly gain them. This property also allows them to be good conductors of electricity and heat.
• Nonmetals are not shiny and are poor conductors of heat and electricity. It has high electronegativity and ionization energy. They react with metals.