Name: Electrical Conductivity of Metals and Non-metals
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 4 min 50 s
Description: Materials that allow an electric current to pass through them are the conductors of electricity. This video helps to understand the concept of electrical con...

Question

Differentiate between metal and non-metal based on their chemical properties.

Accepted Answer

Metals Non-metals

Metals are electropositive Non-metals are electronegative

Metals Non-metals

They react with oxygen to form basic oxides.

$4 Na + O_{2} \to 2 {Na}_{2} O$

$2 Na + O_{2} \to {Na}_{2} O_{2}$

These have ionic bonds.

They react with oxygen to form acidic or neutral oxides.

$C + O_{2} \to {CO}_{2}$ (acidic oxide)

$C + \frac{1}{2} O_{2} \to CO$ (neutral oxide)

$N_{2} + O_{2} \to 2 NO$ (neutral oxide)

$N_{2} + 2 O_{2} \to 2 {NO}_{2}$ (acidic oxide)

$N_{2} + \frac{1}{2} O_{2} \to N_{2} O_{3}$ (acidic oxide)

$N_{2} + \frac{3}{2} O_{2} \to N_{2} O_{5}$ (acidic oxide)

These have covalent bonds

Metals Non-metals

They react with water to form oxides and hydroxides. Some metals react with cold water, some with hot water and some with steam.

$2 Na + 2 H_{2} O \to 2 NaOH + H_{2}$
They do not react with water.

Metals Non-metals

They react with dilute acid to form a salt and evolves hydrogen gas. However, $Cu, Ag, Au, Pt, Hg$ do not react.

$2 Na + 2 HCl \to 2 NaCl + H_{2}$

They do not react with dilute acids. These are not capable of replacing hydrogen.

Metals Non-metals

They react with the salt solution of metals, depending on their reactivity.

${CuSO}_{4} + Zn \to {ZnSO}_{4} + Cu$
They do not react with the salt solution of metals.

Differentiate between metal and non-metal based on their chemical properties.

Important Questions on Metals and Non-metals

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