The opposite of a metal
Soft, dull and quiet: meet the non-metals.
The yellow lump
A metal is shiny, can be beaten and drawn out, rings when struck, and carries heat and electricity. Some substances do the opposite on every count.
A yellow solid, sulfur, is dull, crumbles when hit, makes no ringing sound and does not carry electricity. What kind of substance is it?
What this lesson covers
The idea
Substances like sulfur and phosphorus that are usually soft and dull, neither malleable nor ductile, not sonorous, and poor conductors of heat and electricity are called non-metals; oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon are other non-metals.
The yellow lump
A metal is shiny, can be beaten and drawn out, rings when struck, and carries heat and electricity. Some substances do the opposite on every count.
A yellow solid, sulfur, is dull, crumbles when hit, makes no ringing sound and does not carry electricity. What kind of substance is it?
- A metal
- A non-metal
- An alloy
Metal or non-metal?
Tap a property, then tap the box it usually belongs to: metal or non-metal.
Non-metals
Substances like sulfur and phosphorus, which are usually soft and dull, neither malleable nor ductile, not sonorous and poor conductors of heat and electricity, are called non-metals.
Other non-metals are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon.
- Property | Metals (generally) | Non-metals
- Appearance | lustrous | usually dull
- Hammering and drawing | malleable and ductile | neither
- Sound | sonorous | not sonorous
- Heat and electricity | good conductors | poor conductors
Notes
Non-metals (sulfur, phosphorus, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon) are usually dull, not malleable or ductile, not sonorous, and poor conductors of heat and electricity.
Check yourself
Which of these is a non-metal?
Which group has only non-metals?
Generally, non-metals are _ conductors of heat and electricity.
Which description fits a non-metal like sulfur?
- Sulfur — correct. Yes! It is dull and a poor conductor.
- Copper. Copper is a metal.
- Iron. Iron is a metal.
- Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon — correct. Yes! All four are non-metals.
- Sulfur, copper, carbon. Copper is a metal.
- Iron, oxygen, nitrogen. Iron is a metal.
- good. Metals are the good conductors.
- poor — correct. Yes!
- the best. Metals are the good conductors.
- Dull and not sonorous — correct. Yes!
- Rings when struck. That is a metal: sonorous.
- Can be drawn into wires. That is a metal: ductile.