The following Topics and Sub-Topics are covered in this chapter and are available on MSVgo:
The following Topics and Sub-Topics are covered in this chapter and are available on MSVgo:
Introduction
Why can’t you play cricket with a ball made of glass? Or a ball made of iron? Which metals and nonmetals can be used to make balls?
You might have come across many types of materials in your daily life, including rubber, aluminum, sponge, stone, and wheat. Why is it that all these materials’ physical and chemical properties are different?
These materials are made from different types of elements, which render different physical and chemical properties. These differences alter their physical shape, elastic property, chemical nature, and other properties and parameters. So, you can play cricket with a ball made of rubber or PVC material, but not with glass or iron balls. These differences in metals and nonmetals constitute a pivotal factor that makes the different things we see around us.
Let us now delve into this world of metals and nonmetals.
Metals refer to those substances having certain fundamental properties such as ductility, malleability, luster, conductivity, and a solid feel to the touch. These inherent factors are part of the physical properties of metals and non metals, which separate them into the two categories. We can find many natural occurrences of metals on earth, including gold, iron, copper, silver.
The chemical properties of metals include corrosion, resistance, combustibility, and reactivity, among others. There are methods to neutralise some of these properties. For instance, you can follow techniques such as galvanization, painting, and polishing for the prevention of corrosion.
Here’s an interesting fact: Did you know silver is the most conductive metal on the elements table?
Nonmetals are substances that differ in their physical properties when compared to metals. They are non-ductile, non-malleable, non-shiny, non-fusible, and can be broken easily. Generally, they are bad conductors of electricity. They are used to make resistors in electrical circuits, among other uses. Some examples of nonmetals are oxygen, carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, etc.
Nonmetals are extensively used to make fertilizers and antiseptics. Oxygen, being a life-carrying agent, comprises 21% of the total atmospheric gases.
An interesting fact about nonmetals: Did you know that graphite is a good conductor of electricity despite being a nonmetal? It is an exceptional case among nonmetals.
Let’s take an example of metal sodium (Na) and nonmetal chlorine (Cl). Sodium is an electropositive element with valence 1, and chlorine is an electronegative element with valency 1.
Keeping the play of valence electrons in mind, you can predict the outcome when metals and non metals react. In our case, when the sodium reacts with chlorine, the extra valence electron in the sodium is donated to the electronegative chlorine, forming an ionic bond between them. Ionic bonds are fairly strong bonds and can hold both elements together to form a single compound known as sodium chloride (NaCl).
Let us now understand the properties of ionic compounds.
Properties of ionic compounds
You must have heard about mines and valleys from where metals are extracted. Let’s now take an overview of this topic
Metals are found in ‘free state’ in nature in the form of ores. These ores are rich in minerals (metals and non metals) and are converted into a molten state to extract the desired minerals. The metal extraction process follows the rules of the reactivity series of metals, wherein the metals at the bottom of the reactivity series are least reactive. This reactivity series is used to group the metals into three categories and then carry out a specialized extraction process for different series.
During the extraction of ores as part of the mining process, we can find many impurities like soil, sand, etc., mixed in the ore. These impurities, referred to as ‘gauge’, are removed before the extraction process, so that we get refined metals during the extraction process.
Metals and non-metals are inherent parts of nature and help us make different things for our use. We use soaps, play with balls, drink water; many more elements of our daily life have metals and non metals as their composing material. The physical properties of metals and non metals differ from each other and help us understand their differences in their naturally occurring state.
Metals and non metals are naturally occurring substances found on earth. They are used to build a variety of things which we can feel around us and use in our daily lives. E.g., gold, copper, sodium, oxygen, etc.
Metals are substances having properties such as ductility, malleability, sonorous, lustre, and conductivity. Their examples include gold, silver, iron, and copper.
Nonmetals are substances not having ductility, malleability, and sonorous properties, and they are different from metals. Their examples include oxygen, sulphur, and chlorine.
The 7 properties of metals are ductility, malleability, sonorous, lustre, conductivity, high melting and boiling points, and hard solid surface.
Examples of metals include iron, copper, aluminium, tungsten, gold, and silver.
The different types of metals are ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, and alloys. Alloys are a mixture of metals with their proportions fixed in a particular ratio.
You can find out more about ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, and alloys and these metals’ various properties. Their properties are also defined through magnetism, and you can check out more about this concept MSVgo.
