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The periodic table can be segregated into two types of elements, namely metals and non-metals.

A typical Metal: Chromium[2]

Though you may feel it is insignificant to study about these, you have to understand that there are many applications of these, and play a vital role in our lives. From Bridges to buildings, roads to electric cables, Cars to Aircrafts, mobiles to laptops, the Oxygen you breathe, the Carbon di-oxide you exhale and in fact you yourself are made up of Mtals and Non-Metals!

Over the course of this wiki, you will get to understand the physical and chemical Properties of both Metals and Non-Metals, to get the most out of this wiki you are requested to read: balancing chemical reactions, chemical equilibrium, acids and bases.

A typical Non-metal: Sulphur[3]

A typical Metal: Chromium[2]

Though you may feel it is insignificant to study about these, you have to understand that there are many applications of these, and play a vital role in our lives. From Bridges to buildings, roads to electric cables, Cars to Aircrafts, mobiles to laptops, the Oxygen you breathe, the Carbon di-oxide you exhale and in fact you yourself are made up of Mtals and Non-Metals!

A typical Non-metal: Sulphur[3]

Over the course of this wiki, you will get to understand the physical and chemical Properties of both Metals and Non-Metals, to get the most out of this wiki you are requested to read: balancing chemical reactions, chemical equilibrium, acids and bases.

Let us study the physical properties of metals. They are explained below.

• Electrical Conductivity: Almost all metals are good conductors of electricity. However they differ in their conducting power. Silver, for instance, is the best conductor of electricity. Also Copper \(\ce{(Cu)}\) and Aluminium \(\ce{(Al)}\) are quite good conductors of electricity. Silver \(\ce{(Ag)}\) is highly expensive, hence, it is not used for this purpose. Instead, copper and aluminium are used. Metals are conducting in solid state.

Their conductivity is actually due to the electrons present in the valence shell of metal atoms which they can easily release.

Mercury \(\ce{(Hg)}\), on the other hand, is a poor conductor of electricity. Also Lead \(\ce{(Pb)}\) is almost non-conducting. We can easily check whether a metal is a good conductor of electricity or not. Just connect, a steel spoon, for instance, to a battery and a bulb. If the bulb starts glowing, then we can conclude that that steel spoon, or steel, conducts electricity.

• Thermal conductivity: Metals are good conductors of heat too.This can also be easily proved. Take a thin metal, a clamp, a stand and a burner. Set the apparatus as shown below. Heat one end of the metal sheet for a few minutes. Then touch the other end of the sheet. We can observe that the end which had not been heated by the burner is also quite hot. This activity proves that metals, generally, are good conductors of heat.

Heating Iron: Thermal Conductivity[4]

Just like electrical conductivity, metals also differ in their thermal conductivity. Silver and Copper are good thermal conductors while Lead and Mercury are poor thermal conductors.

• Malleability: It is the property due to which a metal can be beaten into sheets. A hammer or some other device like that can be used to do so. All of us have heard of and seen Aluminium foil, it is the metal Aluminium which has been beaten into very fine and thin sheets.

A thin Sheet of gold: Malleability[5]

• Ductility: It is the property due to which a metal is drawn into thin wires. When a metal can be drawn into wire, we say that the metal is ductile. Copper and Aluminium are some of the best ductile metals.

• Hardness: Metals are usually hard. Hence, they are difficult to break. But there are exceptions. Sodium \(\ce{(Na)}\) and Magnesium \(\ce{(Mg)}\) are so soft that they can be cut easily with knife. The hardness of a metal depends upon the strength of the bonds present among the atoms of a particular metal. Such bonds are called as metallic bonds. Since the strength of the bonds differ from metal to metal, the hardness varies accordingly.

• Lustre: It means shine or brightness. Metals like silver, gold and platinum are well known for their lustre. This property of theirs are the reason that jewellery and ornaments are made of gold, platinum and silver. The lustre is present only when the metals are fresh, once they are exposed to air, they start to lose the shine and the surface become dull. The reaction of these metals with water vapours and some of the gases result in the losing of shine of the metals.

Lusture of Pyrite: Lustre[6]

• Sonorosity: Metals are generally sonorous, which means that they produce a ringing sound when struck hard.

Though the physical properties help us classify and differentiate metals from non-metals, we need better methods to classify them. And so we classify them using their chemical properties. These properties work well with almost all elements and do not seem to have many exceptions. Let us explore a few of these properties:

Reaction with Oxygen: Most of the metals combine with Oxygen in the following manner:

\[\ce{Metal} \ + \ \ce{Oxygen} \ \to \ \text{Metal Oxide}\]

We shall look at some examples of this kind of reaction.

\[\ce{4Na}\ + \ \ce{O}_2\ \to \ce{2Na_2O}\]

\(\ce{Note:}\) Potassium \(\ce{(K)}\) also reacts with Oxygen just in the same manner to form Potassium Oxide \(\ce{(K_2O)}\)

Both of these metals react quite violently. That's because they are highly reactive elements and occupy top positions in the Reactivity Series.

If we look at Magnesium, it occupies a lower position in the reactivity series, hence, it doesn't react very vigorously. It only reacts with oxygen upon heating. It burns with a bright flame to form Magnesium Oxide \(\ce{(Mg_2O)}\). Here is the reaction for the same:

\[\ce{2Mg}\ + \ \ce{O_2}\ \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{2MgO}\]

Reaction with water: The reactivity of metals with water is also linked with their positions in the reactivity series. As a result of reaction of a metal with water, Metal Hydroxide is formed along with the release of Hydrogen gas.

The reactions take place in the following manner:

\[\ce{Metal} \ + \ce{Water} \ \to \text{Metal Hydroxide} + \ce{Hydrogen}\]

Let's look at some examples.

\[\ce{2K} \ + \ce{2H_2O}\ \to \ce{2KOH}\ + \ce{2H_2}\]

\[\ce{2Na} \ + \ce{2H_2O}\ \to \ce{2NaOH}\ + \ce{2H_2}\]

Note: There exists an intermediate form when the metal forms a metal oxide first. But then the Metal Oxide is further made to react with water, the product formed will be a Metal Hydroxide.

Reaction with Acids: Generally, metals react with Acids to produce hydrogen in the following manner.

\[\ce{Metal} \ + \ \ce{Acid}\ \rightarrow\ \ce{salt} \ + \ \ce{Hydrogen}\]

But not all the metals can displace hydrogen from acid to form a salt. This is because the metals which are lower than Hydrogen in the Reactivity Series cannot replace it. Thus, unable to follow the above reaction. But now, let's see some metals which react with Acids.

\[\ce{2Na} \ + \ \ce{2HCl} \ \rightarrow \ \ce{2NaCl} \ + \ \ce{H2}\]

Here, as \(\ce{Na}\) is well above hydrogen in the activity series, it easily replaces hydrogen to form \(\ce{NaCl}\). Let's have a look at some other examples:

\[\begin{align} \ce{Mg} \ + \ \ce{H2SO4} &\rightarrow \ \ce{MgSO4} \ + \ \ce{H2}\\ \ce{Ca} \ + \ \ce{2HCl} &\rightarrow \ \ce{CaCl2} \ + \ \ce{H2}\\ \end{align}\]

But metals like Copper, Mercury and Silver cannot replace Hydrogen, because they occur very well below Hydrogen in the reactivity series.

Reaction with Solutions of other Metals: Again these reactions involve the reactivity series, a metal which is higher in the series can displace a metal which is lower than it. Here's the general formula:

\[\text{Metal A} \ + \ \text{Salt Solution of Metal B} \rightarrow \text{Salt Solution of Metal A} \ + \ \text{Metal B}\]

provided that the reactivity of Metal A is greater that the reactivity of Metal B. These reactions help us in determining the reactivity of an element, as the displaced element will be proved to be weaker in terms of reactivity than the element which displaced it. let us see some examples now:

One very common reaction of this kind is the \(\ce{Fe-Cu}\) reaction.

\[\ce{Fe} \ + \ce{CuSO4} \rightarrow \ce{FeSO4} \ + \ \ce{Cu}\]

In each of these examples, the reactions follow according to the Reactivity Series. And in each reaction, the color of the solution changes as the reaction takes place, here are a few more:

\[\begin{align} \ce{Zn} \ + \ce{CuSO4} &\rightarrow \ce{ZnSO4} \ + \ \ce{Cu}\\ \ce{Cu} \ + \ce{2AgNO3} &\rightarrow \ce{Cu(NO3)2} \ + \ \ce{2Ag}\\ \end{align}\]

Now, let us glance through the some physical properties of non-metals. Their physical properties would not distinguish them with metals, too rigorously, due to the presence of exceptions, almost in every physical property we see! Later, we shall study in more detail about the chemical properties which is the best way to differentiate between the metals and the non-metals. After all, it's all about Metals vs Non-metals!

• State of existence:Non-metals usually exist in the three states of matter. However, the most of them is gaseous form. Non-metals like Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon-dioxide, Argon, neon, Helium,Krypton, Chlorine and Fluorine etc are the ones which constitute the air in our surroundings.

• Hardness: Out of all the non-metals, only solids are expected to be hard. Sulphur and Phosphorus are quite soft, but Diamond is very hard. Diamond is also probably the hardest substance known presently.

Diamond: An exception for Hardness [7]

• Lustre: The non-metals are usually have no shine, since they have no loosely attached electrons which are responsible for lustre. But there is an exception here too! Out of the non-metals, Diamond and Iodine have lustrous nature.

Lustrous Iodine: An exception for Lustre[8]

• Electrical and Thermal Conductivity: Non-metals, in general, are quite poor conductors of heat and electricity. Graphite is an exception here.In fact, it is a very good conductor of electricity.

• Malleability: Non-metals cannot be beaten into thin sheets as metals can be. There is a weak force of attraction. As a result, they are quite brittle. Sulphur is a brittle element. If it is hammered, it would break into pieces.

Sulfur powder[3]

• Ductility: The non-metals can neither be drawn into thin wires. They would break either way, beating into thin sheets or drawing into wires.

• Sonorosity: The non-metals are not sonorous too. They produce no ringing sound when struck on their surface.

Again, to classify Metals and Non-metals in a better orderly fashion, we deal with their chemical properties. The chemical properties work well with almost all elements and do not seem to have many exceptions, we will discuss some of the main chemical properties of Non-metals in this section.

Reaction with Oxygen: In the presence of Oxygen, Non-Metals when provided some heat react to form Non-Metal Oxides. And these Oxides are generally Acidic in nature. In general, they react in the following manner:

\[\text{Non-Metal} \ + \ \text{Oxygen} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{Non-Metal Oxide}\]

Here are some Examples, one of the most common one being:

\[\ce C \ + \ \ce{O2} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{CO2}\]

Some other examples are:

\[\begin{align} \ce{S8} \ + \ \ce{8O2} &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{8SO2}\\ \ce{P4} \ + \ \ce{5O2} &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{P4O10}\\ \end{align}\]

Reaction with Acids: Non-metals, being electronegative do not react with dilute acids as they cannot displace Hydrogen easily, however, they react with concentrated acids when they are heated. Here's the general formula:

\[\text{Non-Metal} \ + \ \ce{Acid} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{Salt} \ + \ \text{Oxide} \ + \ \text{Water}\]

However, the salt may not necessarily be formed in all the cases.

The following is one of the classic example in which the salt is not formed:

\[\ce{S} \ + \ \ce{2H2SO4} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{3SO2} \ + \ \ce{2H2O}\]

Other common examples being:

\[\begin{align} \ce{P} \ + \ \ce{5HNO3} &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{H3PO4} \ + \ \ce{5NO2} \ + \ \text{2H2O}\\ \ce{2P} \ + \ \ce{5H2SO4} &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{2H3PO4} \ + \ \ce{5SO2} \ + \ \ce{2H2O} \end{align}\]

Reaction with Chlorine: Non-metals react with Chlorine atoms upon heating to form their respective chlorides. Sulphur \(\ce{(S)}\) and Phosphorus \(\ce{(P)}\) react in this way. Let's have a look at some reactions to have a better idea of this.

\[\text{Non-Metal} \ + \ \ce{Chlorine} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{Metal Chloride}\]

\[\begin{align} \ce{2P}\ + \ce{5Cl_2}\ &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{2PCl_5}\\ \ce{2S}\ + \ce{Cl_2}\ &\mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{S_2Cl_2} \end{align}\]

• Reaction with hydrogen: Non-metals form their respective Hydrides when they are reacted with Hydrogen. These Hydrides are non-electrolytic and exist as Gases at room temperature, this is the general formula:

\[\text{Non-Metal} \ + \ \ce{Hydrogen} \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \text{Metal Hydride}\]

Hydrogen combines with Sulphur at \(713K\) to form Hydrogen Sulphide in the following manner:

\[\ce{S}\ + \ce{H2}\ \mathrel{\mathop{\longrightarrow}^{\mathrm{heat}}} \ce{H2S}\]

Another common reaction is the formation of ammonia, it occurs at \(773 K\) in the presence of iron catalyst and it is a reversible reaction:

\[\ce{N2}\ + \ce{3H2}\ \rightleftharpoons \ce{2NH3}\]

Reaction with Salt Solutions: This type of reaction is similar to the one we discussed in the chemical properties of metals. Here again, the reactions involve the reactivity series, a Non-metal which is higher in the series can displace a Non-metal from it's salt which is lower than it. Here's the general formula:

\[\text{Non-Metal A} \ + \ \text{Salt solution of Non-Metal B} \longrightarrow \text{Non-Metal B} \ + \ \text{Salt Solution of Non-Metal A}\]

provided that the reactivity of Metal A is greater that the reactivity of Metal B. Let's have a look at one very common example:

\[\ce{Cl2}\ + \ce{2NaBr}\ \longrightarrow \ce{2NaCl} \ + \ \ce{Br2}\]

Both metals and non-metals do not have stable electronic configuration, like the Noble gas elements do. Hence, they will have a strong tendency to achieve the noble gas configuration.

Metal atoms have surplus electrons to give away in their valence shell. On the other hand, Non-metals need electrons to fill their last valence shell.

From this, we can say that, atoms of metals lose valence electrons while non-metal atoms accepts electrons. When the metal atoms give away their valence electrons, they become positively charged or cations, while the non-metal atoms, when they lose electrons, become negatively charged, or in other words, anions. The opposing type of charges bring the ions closer due to electrostatic force of attraction between them, resulting in the formation of ionic compounds with an ionic bond between them.

Let's look at a few examples.

The formation of the common salt or table salt \(\ce{(NaCl)}\) is shown below. The electron from the Sodium atom gets transferred to the Chlorine atom. And hence, an ionic bond is formed between them.

\[\ce{Na}\cdot \ + \ \cdot\ce{Cl} \rightarrow \ce{Na-Cl}\]

Here the Chlorine atom changes to \(\ce{Cl^-}\) and gets the electronic configuration \(\ce{2, 8, 8}\) of Argon \(\ce{(Ar)}\). The Sodium, as it changes to \(\ce{Na^+}\) ion, gets the electronic configuration \(\ce{2, 8}\) of Neon \(\ce{(Ne)}\).

When they react, they will form \(\ce{NaCl}\)

\[\ce{Na^+}\ + \ce{Cl^-}\ \to \ce{NaCl}\]

Hence, the ionic compound Sodium Chloride \(\ce{(NaCl)}\) is formed.

• atoms, molecules, elements, compounds

• ionic compounds

• acids and bases

• balancing chemical reactions

• chemical equilibrium

[1] MTG Publications, Foundation Course for Chemistry Revised 2014 edition, MTG: Indian Subcontinent adaptation 2014.

[2] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium#/media/File%3AChromiumcrystalsand1cm3cube.jpg under the creative commons attribution for reuse and modification.

[3] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#/media/File%3ASulfur-sample.jpg under the creative commons attribution for reuse and modification.

[4] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal#/media/File%3AHot_metalwork.jpg under the creative Commons license for reuse and modification.

[5] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ductility#/media/File%3AKanazawaGoldFactory.jpg under the creative Commons attribution for reuse and modification.

[6] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustre(mineralogy)#/media/File%3APyrite3.jpg under the creative Commons attribution for reuse and modification.

[7] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#/media/File%3ATheHopeDiamond-SIA.jpg under the creative Commons license for reuse and modification.

[8] Image from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonmetal#/media/File%3AIodinecrystals.JPG under the creative Commons attribution for reuse and modification.

Third edit. Slow trigger pull. Let's see what happens.

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Testing.

Testing.

What is \( 2+2\)?

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It's 4 of course.

\[ \int_1^3 \frac{x^2}{x^3-1} \]

\[ N \choose k \]

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dog Hi I am an equation: \[2+2=3.\] I am not really true.

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Why don't I work text? Blah blah \[2+2 = 4\] blah

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