The concept of “metals” is one way or another imagined by everyone. Iron, silver, gold, copper, lead. These names are constantly in the news, so few people will ask the question of what metals are. And yet, it would not hurt to learn about what metals are from the standpoint of a chemist and physicist, if you want to have a systemic picture of the world in your head. And for completeness of knowledge on this topic, it would not hurt to learn about other groups - non-metals and metalloids. What are metallic and non-metallic properties?
If memory fails
Non-metals seem more mysterious, especially for those who do not remember well the school chemistry course, so let's concentrate on non-metal properties, and metal, respectively, should be considered opposite. There is nothing shameful in the fact that you do not remember, it is difficult for the human brain to retain information in the mind,which is not needed every day. So, let's list the non-metallic properties and comment on them to make it more understandable.
No heat, no electricity
Non-metals conduct electricity and heat much worse than metals. Therefore, a ceramic mug, firstly, holds heat better than a metal mug, and secondly, the likelihood of burning hands on such a mug is much less than on a soldier's iron mug. And remember, according to safety precautions, it is impossible to drag an affected person from a current source using metal objects. But you can use a tree, the carbon in the composition of the tree is a non-metal. The property of metals is to conduct current well, non-metallic properties include low conductivity.
Fragility or plasticity
Pure substances from non-metals are usually brittle or even often exist in the solid state in the form of a powder. Metals are malleable, they can take the most unusual frozen forms under the influence of tools and temperature (this quality is used in foundry). You can't process non-metals like that. Non-metals often, even if they occur in the form of pieces, still have a low density and are often porous in appearance.
Table as a map of the area
If you "go" through the periodic table from left to right, you will definitely notice that non-metallic properties increase from left to right. Helium is the biggest "excellent non-metal". But if you go down the table, then the non-metallic properties fade away. Metals are getting more and more aggressiveas you go down the periodic table. Thus, according to the periodic table, one can roughly assume the properties of simple substances consisting of atoms of specific elements. Substances "in the middle" are called metalloids and are often used in electrical engineering as semiconductors.
The benefits of non-metals
There is no common scope for all non-metals. Each has its own "specialization", because non-metallic materials are different. Inert gases are used for outdoor advertising, selenium is used for toners in the printing industry, sulfur is used for matches. We constantly meet in everyday life with materials that consist of derivatives of non-metals.
Thus, non-metallic properties, like metallic ones, can be predicted from the periodic table. And these patterns are very interesting, because the table still holds many undiscovered secrets that allow scientists to look far into the past, and possibly into the future. The future of metalloids is especially interesting.
