Metals and Non-metals

Elements can be classified into the following groups:

Metals : Elements that have tendency to loose electrons and form electropositive ions. They are
electropositive elements.
Na ------> Na+ + e-1
Non-metals : Elements that have tendency to gain electrons and form electronegative ions. They are
electronegative elements.
Cl + e-1 ------> Cl-
Metalloids: The elements which possess the properties of metals and non-metals are called metalloids.
For example: silicon, germanium, tellurium, arsenic and antimony are metalloids.
Physical properties of metals:
 Solid at room temperature except mercury , Gallium
 Ductile : They can be drawn into wires
 Malleable : They can be hammered into very thin sheets called foils. Gold and Silver are most
malleable.
 Sonorous(produce sound when stuck )
 Lustrous (natural shine freshly cut)
 Have high melting point. Cesium and gallium have very low melting point.
 Generally good conductor of heat and electricity, except lead and mercury which are comparatively
poor
 conductors. Silver and copper are best conductors.
 Have high density. Sodium and potassium can be cut with knife, they have low density.
Physical properties of non-metals:
 Occur as solid or gas. Bromine is liquid.
 Generally bad conductors of heat and electricity. Graphite a natural form of carbon is a good
conductor.
 Non-sonorous.
 Non-lustrous, iodine has lustre.
 Non malleable and non ductile.
 Low melting and boiling points.
(Carbon is a non-metal that can exist in different forms. Each form is called an allotrope. Diamond,
an allotrope of carbon, is the hardest natural substance known and has a very high melting and boiling
point. Graphite, another ) allotrope of carbon, is a conductor of electricity.

Chemical properties of Metals

1. Reaction with oxygen:
Metals react with oxygen under different conditions to generally form basic oxides. These basic oxides react
with water to form bases which turn red litmus into blue.
Sodium and potassium react with oxygen vigorously at room temperature.
4Na + O2 ---> 2Na2O
To prevent this oxidation, sodium and potassium are stored under kerosene.
 Magnesium reacted with oxygen only if ignited. It gives a bright dazzling flame and forms a white powder of
magnesium oxide.
2Mg + O2 ----> 2MgO
Iron metal does not burn in dry air even on strong heating. In moist air, iron get oxidise to form iron oxide.
4Fe + 3O2 ------> 2Fe2 O3
Amphoteric Oxides : Metal oxides which react with both acids as well as bases to form salt and water e.g.
Al2O3,ZnO.
Al2O3 + HCl ------> AlCl3 + H2O
Al2O3 + NaOH ------> NaAlO2 + H2O

ZnO + HCl ------> ZnCl2 + H2O

ZnO + NaOH ------> Na2ZnO2 + H2O

2. Reaction of metal with water:

Metals react with water to form oxides or hydroxides along with hydrogen. Different metals react at different
temperature.
In general metals react with water to form a metal oxide or hydroxide and hydrogen
gas.
Na + H2O ------> NaOH + H2 + heat energy
K + H2O ------> KOH + H2 + heat energy
The reaction is so violent that the evolved hydrogen immediately catches fire so they are stored in kerosene.
Ca + 2H2O (cold water) ------> Ca(OH)2 + H2
Mg + 2H2O (Hot water) ------> Mg(OH)2 + H2
In case of Ca and Mg, the metal starts floating due to bubbles of hydrogen gas sticking to its surface.
2Al + 3H2O (steam) ------> Al2O3 + H2
3Fe + 4H2O (steam) ------> Fe3O4 + H2
Metals like copper, silver, gold, platinum donot react with water.
3. Reaction of metals with dilute acids:
Metals react with dilute acids to form their salt and liberate hydrogen gas. The evolution of hydrogen gas can
be tested by bringing a burning splinter near the mouth of the test tube. Hydrogen gas will put off the splinter
with a pop sound.
2Na + 2HCl ------> 2NaCl + H2
Zn + H2SO4 ------> ZnSO4 + H2
Metals below hydrogen (copper, silver, gold and platinum) do not react with dilute acids as they are less
reactive than hydrogen. So they cannot displace hydrogen from dilute acids.
Note: Hydrogen gas is not evolved when a metal reacts with nitric acid (HNO 3). As it is a strong oxidizing
agent, hydrogen gas produced is oxidised to water and acid itself is reduced to an oxide of nitrogen.
Zn + 2HNO3 -----> Zn(NO3)2 + H2O + NO2
But Mg and Mn, react with very dilute nitric acid to evolve hydrogen gas.
Mg + 2HNO3 ------> Mg(NO3)2 + H2
Mn(s) + 2HNO3(aq) → Mn(NO3)2 + H2
 Aqua regia, (Latin for ‘royal water’) is a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid and concentrated
nitric acid in the ratio of 3:1. It can dissolve gold, even though neither of these acids can do so alone.
Aqua regia is a highly corrosive, fuming liquid. It is one of the few reagents that is able to dissolve gold
and platinum.
4. Displacement reactions:
A more reactive metal displaces a less reactive metal from its compound in aqueous solution. Such a reaction
is known as displacement reaction.
For example: When iron nail put in copper sulphate solution then colour of solution changes from blue to
light green and a reddish brown coating of copper is seen on iron nail.
Fe + CuSO4 ---> FeSO4 + Cu
Iron copper sulphate iron suphate copper
(blue) (green)
Iron sulphate + copper no reaction
Because copper is less reactive than iron so cannot displace it.

Chemical properties of Non metals

1. Reaction of non-metals with oxygen:
Non-metals react with oxygen to form acidic or neutral oxides.
C + O2 ----> CO2
S + O2 -----> SO2
The oxides of non-metals are acidic, except CO, H2O and NO, which are neutral.
Acidic nature of on metallic oxides
CO2 + H2O -----> H2CO3
Carbonic acid
SO2 + H2O -----> H2SO3
Sulphorous acid

Uses of metals and non-metals:

Uses of metals:
 Copper and aluminium are used to make wires for carrying electric currents.
 Zinc is used for galvanising iron to protect iron from rusting.
 Silver, gold and platinum are used make jewellery.
 Iron, copper and aluminium metals are used to make utensils for cooking and for manufacturing
machines parts.
 Mercury is used in thermometer.
 Lead is mainly used for making electrodes for automobile batteries and for making alloys.
Uses of non-metals:
 Hydrogen is used in manufacture of ammonia, industrial chemicals.
 Liquid nitrogen is used in refrigerant, in storing human organs at low temperature.
 Sulphur is used in manufacture of sulphuric acid, sulphur dioxide gas, sulphur drugs etc.
 Sulphur is used for vulcanisation of rubber and making gunpowder.
  Phosphorus is used in the manufacture of fertilisers.
 Silicon is used for making semiconductors foe which microchips are made.
 Chlorine is used for disinfecting drinking water.
 Oxygen is used in breathing support system for patients.

The Reactivity Series: Metals along with hydrogen (a non-metal) are arranged in order to their activity in a
series, called the activity series or The Reactivity Series

How do metals and non metals reacts?

 Chemical reactivity of elements is the tendency to attain a completely filled valence shell.
 Noble elements has completely filled valence shell,So they show little chemical activity
 Metals loose the electron to complete the valence shell and Non-metals gain the electron to complete
the valence shell
 Element which loose electron become positively charged and called cation
 Element which gain electron become negatively charged and called anion
Example
1. Formation of Sodium Chloride
a. Sodium looses the electron to complete the shell and become Na+
b. Chloride gain the electron to complete the shell and become Cl-

Sodium and chloride ions, being oppositely charged, attract each other and are held by strong electrostatic
forces of attraction to exist as sodium chloride (NaCl). The bond thus formed between oppositely charged
ions is called ionic bond or electrovalent bond. The compounds which contain ionic bonds are known as
Ionic compounds.
Formation of ionic compound by electron transfer method:
Kindly refer to notebook.

Properties of Ionic compounds

a. Physical nature: Ionic compounds are solids and are somewhat hard because of the strong force of
attraction between the positive and negative ions. These compounds are generally brittle and break into
pieces when pressure is applied.
b. Melting and Boiling points: Ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points. Ionic compounds are
held together by electrostatic forces between the oppositely charged ions. A lot of energy is needed to
overcome this ionic bonding. so ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points.
c. Solubility: Electrovalent compounds are generally soluble in water and insoluble in solvents such as
kerosene, petrol, etc
d. Conduction of Electricity: Ionic compounds conduct electricity in the molten state or in aqueous but not in
solid state. Ionic compounds conduct electricity when molten (liquid) or in aqueous solution (dissolved in
water), because their ions are free to move from place to place. Ionic compounds cannot conduct
electricity when solid, as their ions are held in fixed positions and cannot move.

Occurence of Metals
Important terms
Mineral: The elements or compounds in the form of which metal occur naturally in the earth's crust are called
minerals.
Ores: Those minerals from which metals can be profitably extracted are called ores.
Metallurgy: The Processes involved in the extraction of metals from ores and refining them to get pure
metals are called Metallurgy.

There are three steps involved in extraction of metals from Ores

(a)Encrichment of Ores
(b)Extraction of Metals
(c) Refining of Metals
Encrichment of Ores

 Ores mined from the earth are usually contaminated with large amounts of impurities such as soil,
sand, etc., called gangue.
 The impurities must be removed from the ore prior to the extraction of the metal.
 The methods depends on the differences between the physical or chemical properties of the gangue
and the ore
Various Methods are

Extraction of Metals
It is also called the reduction of metal from ore. We use different method based on Activity series
(I) Extracting Metals Low in the Activity Series
Metals low in the activity series are very unreactive. The oxides of these metals can be reduced to metals by
heating alone
For example
i) cinnabar (HgS) is an ore of mercury
When it is heated in air, it is first converted into mercuric oxide (HgO). Mercuric oxide is then reduced to
mercury on further heating.
2HgS(s) + 3O (g) -> 2HgO(s) + 2SO (g)
2HgO(s) -> 2Hg(l) + O (g)

ii) Cu2S(Copperpyrite)+3O2(g)+heat→2Cu2O(s)+2SO2(g)
2Cu2O(s)+Cu2S(s)+heat→6Cu(crude metal)+SO2(g)

iii) 2PbS(Galena)+3O2(g)+heat→2PbO(s)+2SO2(g)
PbS(s)+2PbO(s)→2Pb(crudemetal)+SO2(g)

(II) Extracting Metals in the Middle of the Activity Series

Here the metals are first converted into oxides using Roasting and Calcination and then metals are extraced
using Reducing agent like Carbon
(a) Roasting: The sulphide ores are converted into oxides by heating strongly in the presence of excess air.
This process is known as roasting
2ZnS(s) + 3O (g) -> 2ZnO(s) + 2SO (g)

(b)Calcination: The carbonate ores are changed into oxides by heating strongly in limited air. This process is
known as calcination
ZnCO3 (s) -> ZnO(s) + CO (g)
(c) Reduction
when zinc oxide is heated with carbon, it is reduced to metallic zinc.
ZnO(s) + C(s) -> Zn(s) + CO(g)

Sometimes highly reactive metals such as sodium, calcium, aluminium, etc., are used as reducing agents
because they can displace metals of lower reactivity from their compounds.

Smelting – it involves heating the roasted or calcined ore (metal oxide) to a high temperature with a suitable
reducing agent. The crude metal is obtained in its molten state.
Fe2O3+3C(coke)→2Fe+3CO2

Aluminothermic reaction – also known as the Goldschmidt reaction is a highly exothermic reaction in which
metal oxides usually of Fe and Cr are heated to a high temperature with aluminium.
Fe2O3+2Al→Al2O3 +2Fe +heat (Thermite reaction)
Iron obtained in this reaction is in molten state and used to join cracked machine parts, railway tracks etc.

Cr2O3+2Al→Al2O3+2Cr+heat

(III) Extracting Metals towards the Top of the Activity Series

The highly reactive metals are obtained by electrolytic reduction. For example, sodium, magnesium and
calcium are obtained by the electrolysis of their molten chlorides. The metals are deposited at the cathode
(the negatively charged electrode), whereas, chlorine is liberated at the anode (the positively charged
electrode).
At cathode Na+ + e- -> Na
At anode 2Cl- -> Cl2 + 2e-

ii) At the cathode (reduction):

2Al3++6e–→ 2Al(s)
Metal is deposited.
At the anode (oxidation):
6O2– → 3O2(g)+12e–
Oxygen gas is liberated.
The metals at the top of the reactivity series are highly reactive. They cannot be obtained from their
compounds by heating with carbon, because these metals have more affinity for oxygen than carbon. Hence,
for the extraction of such metals electrolytic reduction method is used.

Refining of Metals
 The metals after extraction is not pure and we have to refine it to obtain pure metal.We use
Electrolytic Refining for this purpose
 Example of metals which are refined using this method are copper, zinc, tin, nickel, silver, gold, etc.
 In this process, the impure metal is made the anode and a thin strip of pure metal is made the cathode.
A solution of the metal salt is used as an electrolyte
 On passing the current through the electrolyte, the pure metal from the anode dissolves into the
electrolyte. An equivalent amount of pure metal from the electrolyte is deposited on the cathode. The
soluble impurities go into the solution, whereas, the insoluble impurities settle down at the bottom of
the anode and are known as anode mud.