Metals and Non-Metals

Question 1

What are metals ?

Answer 1

1) elements which can form + ions when they react
2) They’re towards the bottom and to the left of the periodic table
3) Most elements are metals

Question 2

What are non-metals ?

Answer 2

1) They’re towards the far right and top of the periodic table
2) Non metals don’t generally form + ions when they react

Question 3

How does electronic structure of atoms - metal - affect how they will react ?

Answer 3

Atoms generally react to form a full outer shell. They do this by gaining, sharing or losing electrons.

Metals towards left of PT don’t have many electrons to remove and metals

towards the bottom of PT have outer electrons which are long way way from nucleus so feel a weaker attraction.

Both these effects mean that not much energy is needed to remove electrons so it’s feasible for the elements to react to form + ions with full outer shell

Question 4

How does electronic structure of atoms - non metal - affect how they will react ?

Answer 4

For non metals, forming + ions is much more difficult.

Towards right of PT so far more electrons on outer shell needed to be removed

Towards top of PT which means outer electrons are close to nucleus so feel a strong attraction.

Both these effects mean that much more energy is needed to remove electrons so it’s more feasible for them to share or gain electrons to get a full outer shell

Question 5

Physical properties of metal

Answer 5

1) all metals have metallic bonding = so similar properties
- strong and malleable ( can be bent into diff shapes)
- good conductors of heat and electricity
- high mp and bp

Question 6

Physical properties of non - metal

Answer 6

• dull looking
• no metallic bonding
• more brittle
• aren’t always solids at room temperature
• don’t generally conduct electricity
• lower density