Elements which show some properties of metals and some other properties of non-metals are called metalloids. Metalloids look like metals, but they are brittle like non-metals. Metalloids are typically semiconductors which means that they both insulate and conduct electricity. The semiconductor property makes metalloids very useful as computer chip material. They are also called as semimetals. Some important examples of metalloids are as follows : Boron, Silicon and Germanium.

The elements or compounds of the metals which occur in nature in the earth's crust are called minerals. Some minerals may contain a large percentage of metal whereas others may contain only a small percentage of the metal. Thus, all the minerals cannot be used to extract metals.

We can not extract or obtain metals from all the available minerals. The minerals from which metals can be extracted profitably and conveniently are called ores. Metal ores commonly occur as carbonates, sulphides, oxides, chlorides, and halides.

Write names of any two metalloids.

The elements which show some properties of metal and other properties of non-metal, which means they show the properties of both metals and non-metals are called metalloids. The examples of metalloids are the following: (I) Silicon (II) Germanium (III) Arsenic