Article
Article
Nonmetal
Article By:
Waddington, Thomas C. Formerly, Department of Chemistry, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.455800
The elements are conveniently, but arbitrarily, divided into metals and nonmetals. The nonmetals do not conduct electricity readily, are not ductile, do not have a complex refractive index, and in general have high ionization potentials. The nonmetals vary widely in physical properties. Hydrogen is a colorless permanent gas; bromine is a dark-red, volatile liquid; and carbon, as diamond, is a solid of great hardness and high refractive index. If the periodic table is divided diagonally from upper left to lower right, all the nonmetals are on the right-hand side of the diagonal. Examples of elements which do not fit neatly into this useful but arbitrary classification are tin, which exists in two allotropic modifications, one definitely metallic and the other with many properties of a nonmetal, and tellurium and antimony. Such elements are called metalloids. See also: Ionization potential; Metal; Metalloid; Periodic table
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
