Saturday 15 September 2012

The Basics of Chemistry-Non Metals

Any element which is not a good conductor of heat and electricity is called a non-metal.The exceptions are Diamond which is a good conductor of heat and Graphite which is a good conductor of electricity.Some examples of non-metals are Oxygen,Hydrogen,Nitrogen,Carbon,Sulphur,Bromine,etc.We saw in the last post about a few characteristics of metals.Now let us see if they apply to non metals.Before you continue reading,make sure you read my last post on metals.

Physical form
Nearly all non-metals are solids or gases at room temperature with the exception of Bromine,which is a brown coloured liquid at room temperature.
Lustre
Unlike metals,most non-metals are not lustrous with the exception of graphite and iodine which do show some lustre.

Colour
Some non-metals show colour while some are colourless.For example,Oxygen and Nitrogen are colourless gases while Sulphur is a yellow element.

Hardness
Non-metals are usually soft.The exception is Diamond which is the hardest substance known.

Malleability
Non-metals are brittle and cannot be beaten into sheets or foils.

Ductility
Non-metals are brittle and cannot be beaten into sheets or foils.

Thermal Conductivity
Most non-metals are not good conductors of heat.The exception is diamond.

Electrical Conductivity
Most non-metals are not good conductors of electricity with the exception of graphite.Graphite is a good conductor of electricity.

Sonority
Non-metals are brittle and do not produce a loud sound when struck with a hard object.

This concludes my talk on non-metals.




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