Good conductors of heat and electricity.
Have shining luster.
Malleable (this means that they can be hammered or distorted).
Ductile (this means that they can be drawn into wires).
Most have high melting and boiling points.
Are sonorous (give out sound when beaten).
Usually solid at room temperature. An exception to this is mercury, which is liquid in nature.
Examples: Aluminum, Gold, Copper, Silver, Sodium, Potassium, Mercury.
Corrode or oxidize in air and sea water.
Readily lose electrons.
The structure and bonding of metals is also unique. A metallic substance has atoms that are close packed to their neighboring atoms. There are two common arrangements for metals, one of which is the body-centered cubic. In this arrangement each atom is at the center of eight other atoms. The other arrangement is called the face-centered cubic, and this is the same as the body-centered cubic except the atom is the center of six other atoms. These arrangements cause a crystal structure.
Used in the making of spaceships.
As far as bonding goes, metals easily lose their outer shell electrons, or valence electrons. This property is what gives them their ability to easily conduct heat and electricity.There are sub-groups of metals called the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, and transition metalsNon-metals:
Bad conductor of heat and electricity (exception: Graphite, a form of carbon).
Don't have shining luster (Exception: Iodine).
Dull appearance.
May be solids, liquids, or gas at room temperature.
Neither Malleable nor ductile.
Most have low melting and boiling points (Exception: Carbon and some others).
Non-sonorous.
Tend to gain electrons in chemical reactions.
Nonmetal atoms are generally small and contain relatively large numbers of electrons in their outer shell. The noble gas nonmetals have completely filled outer electron shells, and most nonmetals have almost filled outer shells. This is contrasted to