What are Metals?
Most of the elements in the periodic table are metals. They form cations, that are positive ions and contain metallic bonds. Metals comprise alkali metals, lanthanides as well as transition metals. Metals are rigid substances possessing a shiny lustrous body and acting as good conductors of heat and electricity. For instance, metal is considered to be a good conductor of electricity. These can be easily hammered to form sheets and drawn into wires. Therefore, the metals are both malleable and ductile. Metals are usually crystalline solids. Metals display high chemical reactivity.
Metals tend losing electrons easily. Metals easily form a lattice of positive ions surrounded altogether by a cloud of delocalised electrons. A metal may be a chemical element, for instance, iron; or an alloy, for instance, stainless steel; or even a molecular compound, for instance, polymeric sulphur nitride.
What is an Element?
Element in chemistry are substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by any chemical method by the application of heat or light. For instance, melting a piece of gold still remains the gold element. These substances are composed of a singular type of atoms i.e., they are monoatomic.
Elements are considered to be the building blocks of matter. 118 elements exist in total till now, 94 elements out of these occur in nature whereas the 24 left are prepared artificially. These elements are arranged in a table called the periodic table of elements.
In this article, we will learn about elements in chemistry, the classification of elements, metals, non-metals, and metalloids, etc in detail.
Table of Content
- Element Definition
- What is an Element?
- Origin of the Elements
- Classification of Elements
- What are Metals?
- Characteristics of Metals
- Examples of Metals
- Applications of Metals
- What are Non-Metals?
- Characteristics of Non-Metals
- Examples of Non-Metals
- Applications of Non-Metals
- What are Metalloids?
- Characteristics of Metalloids
- Examples of Metalloids
- Applications of Metalloids
- Comparison of Metal, Non-Metals and Metalloids