Non-Metals

A nonmetal is an element that usually gains electrons when reacting with a metal, and which

forms an acid if combined with oxygen and hydrogen. Bromine and the elemental gases are
universally recognised as nonmetals, but no standard definition distinguishes nonmetals and
metals. Consequently the number of elements recognised as nonmetals generally ranges from
fourteen to twenty-three, depending on the classification criteria.

At room temperature, about half are colorless or pale yellow to pale green gases, while one
(bromine) is a dark red liquid. The rest are silvery-gray (barring sulfur, which is yellow) solids
and either hard and brittle or soft and crumbly. Nonmetals usually have lower densities than
metals; are mostly poorer conductors of heat and electricity; and tend to have significantly lower
melting points and boiling points.

Chemically, nonmetals mostly have higher ionization energies, higher electron affinities, higher
electronegativity values, and higher standard reduction potentials than metals. In general, the
higher an element's ionization energy, electron affinity, electronegativity, or standard reduction
potentials, the more nonmetallic that element is. In chemical reactions, nonmetals tend to gain or
share electrons unlike metals which tend to donate electrons. More specifically, and given the
stability of the noble gases, nonmetals generally gain a number of electrons sufficient to give
them the electron configuration of the following noble gas whereas metals tend to lose electrons
sufficient to leave them with the electron configuration of the preceding noble gas. A key
attribute of nonmetals is that they never form basic oxides; their oxides are generally acidic.
Moreover, solid nonmetals (including metalloids) react with nitric acid to form an oxide (carbon,
silicon, sulfur, antimony, and tellurium) or an acid (boron, phosphorus, germanium, selenium,
arsenic, iodine).

The chemical differences between metals and nonmetals largely arise from the attractive force
between the positive nuclear charge of an individual atom and its negatively charged valence
electrons. From left to right across each period of the periodic table the nuclear charge increases
as the number of protons in the core increases. There is an associated reduction in atomic radius
as the increasing nuclear charge draws the valence electrons closer to the core. In metals, the
nuclear charge is generally weaker than that of nonmetallic elements. In chemical bonding,
metals therefore tend to lose electrons, and form positively charged or polarized atoms or ions
whereas nonmetals tend to gain those same electrons due to their stronger nuclear charge, and
form negatively charged ions or polarized atoms.

Although five times more elements are metals than nonmetals, two nonmetals - hydrogen and
helium - make up about 99% of the observable universe by mass. Another nonmetal, oxygen,
makes up almost half of the Earth's crust, oceans, and atmosphere. Most nonmetals have
biological, technological or domestic roles or uses. Living organisms are composed almost
entirely of the nonmetals hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen.