In spite of their adjacency in the periodic table, halogens and nonmetals have very different properties. Halogens are among the most chemically reactive elements in the periodic table, exhibiting a diverse chemistry in terms of the large numbers of compounds they can form. On the other hand, noble gases are the least chemically reactive elements. In fact, before the 1960s, chemists referred to these elements as inert gases, because it was believed that they exhibited no chemistry whatsoever.

Providing the basics of these elements, including their role in history and some of the important...

The general public may not be familiar with lanthanides, actinides, and transactinides, but these elements comprise approximately 35 percent of the total number of known elements. Attempts to produce new elements—or new isotopes of known elements—constitute an active area of scientific research. 

Providing high school and college students with an up-to-date understanding of these elements, Lanthanides and Actinides, Second Edition explains how they were discovered, as well as the practical applications that these elements have in today's scientific,...

Materials that are poor conductors of electricity are generally considered nonmetals. One important use of nonmetals is the ability to insulate against current flow. The Earth's atmosphere is composed of nonmetallic elements, but lightning can break down the electron bonds and allow huge voltages to make their way to the ground. Water in its pure form is nonmetallic, though it almost always contains impurities called electrolytes that allow for an electric field.

With an exploration of the benefits and challenges to society, health, and the environment, Nonmetals, Second Edition...

More so than any of the other major groups of elements in the periodic table, the transition metals have shaped human history and have been the workhorses of industry. The discovery of metallic copper ended the Stone Age and ushered in the Bronze Age. Alloys of iron (especially steel) later took over, and the Iron Age replaced the Bronze Age. Copper, silver, and gold—and, more recently, platinum—have been the precious metals from which coins and jewelry have been made from ancient times to the present.

Each chapter in the newly updated, full-color Transition Metals,...

Scientists categorize the chemical elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids largely based on the elements' abilities to conduct electricity at normal temperatures and pressures, but there are other distinctions taken into account when classifying the elements in the periodic table. The alkali metals, for example, are metals, but have such special properties that they are given their own classification. The same is true for the alkaline earths.

Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metals, Second Edition presents the current scientific understanding of the physics, chemistry, geology, and...

While scientists categorize the chemical elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids largely based on the elements' abilities to conduct electricity at normal temperatures and pressures, there are other distinctions that are taken into account when classifying the elements of the periodic table. The post-transition metals, for example, are metals, but have such special properties that they are given their own classification. The same is true for the metalloids.

Metals and Metalloids, Second Edition presents the current scientific understanding of the physics, chemistry, geology,...