Metals and Non-metals

CHEMISTRY
 CONTENTS

Metals and Physical properties

Non metals in of metals and non
periodic table metals

Chemical properties
of metals and non
metals

Reaction Reactions between

between metals oxygen and metals
and non metals and non-metals
Metals and Non-metals in the periodic table

Periodic table is the chart of elements arranged

according to their atomic number (number of
protons).
Metals and non-metals in the periodic table

Non metals

• The elements can be broadly classified as metals and non-

metals. (note: metalloids are not considered as non-metals here)
• Metals outnumber non-metals in the periodic table.
• Non-metals are confined to the right upper corner of the periodic
table.
 Common metals
Sodium

 It is silvery-white metal and so soft that it can be

easily cut with knife.

 Sodium does not occur naturally in its elemental

form because of its highly reactive nature.

 Sodium reacts instantly with oxygen in air to form

sodium oxide hence it is always stored in non-
oxidising medium like paraffin, mineral oil or
kerosene. It floats and burns on water.

 It was first isolated by a British chemist Sir

Humphry Davy in 1807 using a technique called
as electrolysis.
 Ten common metals
Sodium

Sodium is used for making soaps.

It is one of the constituent of

common salt

It is used in the form of vapours to

generate orange coloured light
generally used in street lighting.
 Ten common metals
Magnesium

 It is silvery-white, light-weight but

comparatively stronger metal than
sodium.

 Joseph Black was the first to

discover this element in 1755, but
it was first isolated by Antonie
Bussy and Sir Humphry Davy in
1808.

 It also reacts instantly with

oxygen to form magnesium oxide.
 Ten common metals
Magnesium

 This metal easily burns when

ignited in water this property
it is used for flares (signals) by
deep water divers.

 It is also used in fire starters.

 It has wide variety of

medicinal uses.
Fire starter
 Ten common metals
Aluminium

Aluminium is a light weight (density 2.7g/cm3) and

durable metal.
Its appearance ranges from silver to dull grey.
It is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust.
It is also a chemically reactive metal and hence is
never found in its pure form.
 Its melting point is 660oC and it boils at 2519oC at
standard atmospheric pressure.
 Ten common metals
Aluminium

 Aluminium develops a protective aluminium

oxide layer when exposed to air or oxygen which
prevents further oxidation of the metal.

 This property makes it very useful for making

aircraft parts.

 It is a good conductor high tension electrical

wires

 Foils made of aluminium are used to pack and

keep the food fresh .
 Ten common metals
Potassium

 Potassium is a silvery grey metal. It can be easily cut with knife.

 It is stored in mineral oil or kerosene to avoid contact with

oxygen and water vapour in air. It explodes when put in water.

 It is extremely reactive metal and reacts violently with oxygen

and water vapour in air.

 The symbol of potassium is K which is derived from its Latin

name kalium.

 It was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy who retrieved it from

one of the potassium compounds potassium hydroxide by
electrolysis (breaking compounds by passing electricity
through its aqueous solution or in molten form).
 Ten common metals
Potassium

Potassium alum is
used to treat water
(for settling
insoluble impurities
in water)

Potassium
sulfate is used
as fertiliser

Potassium
permanganate is
used for making
dyes.
 Ten common metals
Calcium

 Calcium is dull grey metal, the fifth most abundant element in the Earth’s
crust.
 It is a soft metal but comparatively harder than sodium and potassium. It
can be cut with knife with efforts.
 Calcium does not occur naturally in its elemental form.
 It is commonly found in the form of sedimentary rocks or as minerals like
calcite, dolomite and gypsum.
 Sir Humphry Davy was the first to isolate this metal from its compound
calcium oxide commonly known as lime.
 Ten common metals
Calcium

 Calcium compounds are used in the

production of cements, cosmetics,
toothpaste, insecticides, paint, cheese
making etc.

Calcium supplements

Calcium used in Cheese Calcium used in cement

making
 Ten common metals
Iron

 Iron is the most abundant metal if we consider the

whole Earth (inner and outer core being made up of
iron). However, it is the fourth most abundant metal
in the Earth’s crust.

 The symbol of iron is Fe which is derived from its

Latin name Ferrum.

 It is one of the three magnetic metals other being

cobalt and nickel.

 The source of iron is haematite (iron oxide). Iron

 It is extracted by heating coke and limestone along

with haematite is a special type of furnace called as
blast furnace.
 Ten common metals
Iron

car block engine

Uses of Iron manhole covers

constructions utensils
 Ten common metals
Copper

 Copper was probably the first metal used for

making utensils , weapons, etc and hence the
period 4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. is known as ‘
Copper Age’.

 The main source of copper are chalcopyrite or

copper pyrites (rocks containing copper
compounds).

 Copper is extracted by process called as

electrolysis (where in compounds of metals
are broken down by passage of electricity to
obtain pure metals.

 It is a soft metal when compared to iron.


It can be easily drawn into
wires and is a very good
conductor of heat, so used in
hot water cylinders
for coating the bases of the pan
Ten common metals
Copper
It’s a good conductor of electricity; this
makes it suitable for using it as wires
in electric circuit and for lightning
conductors and sheets to make
computer chips.
Uses of copper
To make lock and
To make ornaments keys
 Ten common metals
Zinc

 Zinc is bluish-white, lustrous metal.

 The main ore of zinc is sphalerite (zinc
sulfide).
 The surface of zinc reacts with oxygen to
form a thin layer of zinc oxide which
prevents further oxidation of zinc and thus
is resistant to corrosion.
 This property of zinc makes it useful for
coating metals prone to corrosion like iron.
 The process of coating iron with a thin
layer of zinc is called as galvanization.
 Zinc is also used in batteries and electric
cell. The disposable zinc-carbon batteries
have their outer covering made of Zinc.
 Ten common metals
Silver

 Silver is white lustrous metal.

 The symbol of silver is Ag which comes from its
Latin word argentum
 It is highly ductile (drawn into wires) and
malleable (beaten into sheets) metal.
 It has the highest electrical conductivity of all
metals, even higher than copper, but its greater
cost has prevented it from being widely used in
place of copper for electrical purposes.
 It is shiniest of all metals. i.e. it has highly reflective
surface hence used to make mirrors.
 Silver is soft metal in its pure form and hence
requires hardening by mixing small amount of
copper in it.
 Ten common metals
Silver

Occurrence:
 Silver is found in nature in its native
form (pure form) or combined with
sulfur, arsenic, antimony, or chlorine.
Argenite, horn silver and
pyragyrite are the three main ores
of silver.
 Mexico is the world's largest silver silverware jewellery
producer.

Uses:
It is generally used as a precious
metal like gold to make jewellery,
coins, ornaments and mirrors.

ornaments cutlery
 Ten common metals
Mercury

 It is an unusual metal for being liquid at room

temperature. The symbol of mercury Hg comes
from Latin name hydrargyrum (hydra – water;
argyros- silver)

 The metal is poisonous in form of mercury vapour.

 It is a poor conductor of heat when compared to

other metals but a good conductor of electricity
hence used in some switches.

 Mercury is extracted mainly from it sulphide ore

called cinnabar (mercury sulfide)
 Ten common metals
Mercury

 It is used in thermometers,
sphygmomanometer (a device to detect
the blood pressure) and various other
scientific apparatus.
 Reflecting mirrors of powerful telescopes
are huge and require high precision to
catch light source coming from distant
stars. It is difficult and expensive process
to make such huge mirrors of high
precision. The comparatively easy process
is to spin a huge bowl containing mercury
to get a thin reflective mirror surface of
high precision. These telescopes are
called liquid mirror telescopes.
 Seven common non-metals
Hydrogen

 Hydrogen is a colourless odourless gas.

 It is the lightest element known to human kind .
 Henry Cavendish was the first person to recognise hydrogen as a
separate substance in 1766 while he was studying the reactions of metal
with acids. He named it ‘phlogiston’ meaning ‘flammable air’. The name
hydrogen was given by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783.
 Hydrogen is mainly used in petroleum and chemical industry, for
making oil products from oil and in production of ammonia. It is
commonly used as coolant (a fluid that causes cooling by transferring
heat from one place to other) for generators in power station.
 Seven common non-metals
Helium

Helium is a colourless and

odourless gas. It is one of the
inert gases (inert gases
generally do not react with
other elements) and hence do
not support burning.
Helium is the second lightest
element.
 Seven common non-metals
Helium

Uses:
Helium being lighter than
air is used in party balloons
and airships.
It is also used as coolant for
super-conducting magnets in
Airship filled with non-
MRI scanners. flammable helium
 Seven common non-metals
Carbon

 Carbon is a non-metallic element that has

been known since ancient times in the form
of coal, charcoal, graphite and diamond. Its
importance arises from the fact that, in
combination with other elements; it makes up
the living tissues of all living plants and
animals. Carbon

 Carbon exhibits allotropy. The phenomenon

of an element existing in two or more physical
forms is called allotropy.

 Diamond and graphite are the two main

allotropes of carbon. graphite diamond
 Seven common non-metals
Carbon

In making lead of ‘lead’ Graphite based Used as a lubricant

pencils. grease for heated machine
parts due to its
slippery nature.
 Uses of diamond:

The colourless or slightly tinted diamonds are

prized gems and find use in jewellery.
Black diamonds are used in
making precision
instruments.
Diamond dust is used for cutting and
polishing diamonds and valuable
EX12LED stones.

Diamond cutter Diamond

Being the hardest substance, dyes are
diamond can be used for cutting used for
glass and for drilling rocks. making thin
‘Only a diamond can cut tungsten
another diamond’. wires.
 Seven common non-metals
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a colourless, odourless gas

that forms the major part of air. It was
discovered by Scottish physicist Daniel
Rutherford in 1772.
It does not support burning but it is not
an inert gas like helium.
Liquid nitrogen is used to store
biological materials like cells, bloods,
organs etc.
 Seven common non-metals
Nitrogen

Aircraft tyres are filled with

nitrogen instead of normal air
because compressed contains
oxygen molecules that can react
with magnesium rim of aircraft
wheel on the other hand nitrogen
does not react with metals or
rubber of aircraft wheel.
 Seven common non-metals
Oxygen

 Oxygen is a colourless, odourless gas that forms

the second largest portion of air after nitrogen.
 It is produced industrially by fractional
distillation process.
 It is an important gas for life as many
organisms need oxygen to carry out respiration.
 Oxygen supports burning.
 It is one of the three essential sides of fire
triangle.
 It was independently discovered by C W Scheele
in 1773 and John Priestley in 1774. The gas was
named by Antoine Lavoisier later.
 Seven common non-metals
Oxygen

It is mainly used as life support for

systems in hospital and aircraft to
help breathing.
Other uses include production of
steel, plastic, textiles, in industry for
welding and cutting metals, as a
rocket propellant etc.
 Seven common non-metals
Sulfur

 Sulfur is a hard, yellow, brittle

solid.
 The name sulfur is derived from
the Sanskrit word ‘Shulvari’
which means “enemy of the
copper”. Sulfur destroys the
metallic properties of copper.
 Sulfur exists in several allotropic
forms. The allotrope stable at
ordinary temperature is the
rhombic or octahedral sulfur.
 Seven common non-metals
Sulfur

 It is all most tasteless (do not taste sulfur) and odourless.

 It is insoluble in water, readily soluble in chemicals
carbon disulphide and carbon tetrachloride.
 It is a poor conductor of heat and electricity.
 A lump of sulfur when rubbed against dry hand or against
wool, becomes, electro statically charged and attracts
scraps of paper.
 Sulfur is a solid and forms number of compounds like
hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid etc.
 Seven common non-metals
Sulfur

Chemical industries:
 The most important substance manufactured from
sulfur is sulfuric acid, which is widely used in industries.
 Sulfur is used to produce-sulfur dioxide, which is used
in bleaching (remove colour from) straw and wool.
 Sulfur is used to produce carbon disulphide which is
used as an industrial solvent.
 Sulfur is used in gun powder.

Medicine:
 Sulfur is used in ointments.
 Sulfur compounds are used as oral medicines in the
Ayurveda.
 Seven common non-metals
Sulfur

Agriculture:
 Sulfur dust is sprayed on fruit trees and grapes
vines to destroy the insects and fungus which
attack them. Sulfur is also used in the
preparation of insecticides, pesticides etc.

Vulcanisation of rubber:
 Raw rubber is heated with sulfur at a definite
temperature for a definite time.
 This treatment converts the soft, sticky mass of
rubber into a hard, tough substance this process
is called as vulcanisation of rubber. This process
is used in the manufacturing of tyres for
vehicles.
 Seven common non-metals
Bromine

 Bromine is the only non-metal that is liquid

at room temperature.
 Bromine has got its name from Greek word
bromos which means stench (unpleasant
odour).
 It is slightly transparent reddish-brown
dense liquid.
 The non-metal occurs naturally in the form of
bromide salts which can be recovered from seas.
 It evaporates at room temperature producing red
brown fumes which are toxic.
 Many compounds of bromine are used in industry
mainly for the production of flame retardant
chemicals. These chemicals are added to plastic,
textiles, coating to make it resist the spread of fire.
 It is also used in the manufacture of tyrian purple
dye.
 One of the compounds of bromine –Ethyl bromide
is added to leaded petrol. Lead forms compounds
that are not good for engine. Ethyl bromide reacts
with lead to lead bromide and prevents the
formation of lead compounds. Lead bromide is
released from the exhaust.
 It is also used in the production of disinfectants.
 Physical property- What it means.

 The properties that characterise a material without

undergoing change in its chemical identity are called
physical properties.

 This can easily be identified by looking at the materials

colour, state, surface and by knowing its melting point,
boiling point.

 When a material undergoes physical change like melting,

boiling, reshaping etc its chemical identity is not changed
(that means it is still the same material).
 Chemical property - What it means.

 The properties that characterise a material by undergoing

change in its chemical identity are called chemical
properties of material.

 For example – we can identify a material as metal by

studying how it reacts with oxygen gas or how it reacts with
acids.

 When a material undergoes chemical change its chemical

identity changes (which means it is no longer the same
material).
Physical properties of metals and non-metals

Metals Non metals

are solids may be solid, liquid or gases
are hard solid non metals are brittle except
diamond

have metallic lustre (shine) generally don’t have lustre (exceptions

– iodine)

have high melting and boiling points have low melting points
are malleable generally are not malleable
are ductile generally not ductile
are good conductors of heat and are bad conductors of heat and
electricity electricity (except graphite)

are sonorous (produces sound) are not sonorous

 Chemical properties of metals and non-metals

Metals reacting with non-metals.

Some metal react with non-metals to form a
compound of the two elements.
For example: sodium reacts with chlorine to form
sodium chloride.
sodium + chlorine  sodium chloride
 Chemical properties of metals
Reaction of metals with oxygen

If a metal reacts with oxygen it result in the formation

of metal oxide. for example: sodium when burnt in air
reacts with oxygen to form sodium oxide.
Metal oxides are called bases (chemical substances
that can neutralise acid).
Some bases like sodium oxide and calcium oxide
dissolve in water to form alkalis.
Some bases like copper oxide do not dissolve in water.
An alkali is always a base but a base is not always an
alkali.
 Chemical properties of non-metals
Reaction of non-metals with oxygen

If a non-metal reacts with oxygen it also forms the

oxide of that non-metal.
For example sulfur reacts with oxygen to form sulfur
dioxide.
Most of the oxides of non-metals are soluble in
water.
Oxides of non-metal dissolve in water to form acids.
 Chemical properties of metals and non-metals

Reaction of metals / non-metals with oxygen is thus

useful in distinguishing a metal from non-metal

Oxides of metals dissolve in water to form alkaline

solution

Oxides of non-metals dissolve in water to form acidic

solution