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.
Scientists categorize the chemical elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids largely based on the elements' abilities to conduct electricity at...
In spite of their adjacency in the periodic table, the properties of halogens and nonmetals are very different. The 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. It was discovered, however, that krypton and xenon are capable of bonding with other...
In spite of their adjacency in the periodic table, the properties of halogens and nonmetals are very different. The halogens are among the most che...