TEKS

6.6a Compare metals, nonmetals and metalloids using physical properties such as luster, conductivity, or malleability.

VOCABULARY:

Brittle - A tendency to break rather than flex or bend

Malleability - The ability of something to be reshaped without breaking

Metalloids - Elements that have properties of both metals and nonmetals; sometimes referred to as semiconductors

Metals - Most elements are metals; they are typically solid, shiny, malleable, and good conductors of heat and electricity

Nonmetals - Elements that are typically not shiny, not malleable, and poor conductors of heat and electricity; usually gases or brittle solids

Periodic Table of Elements - A table in which all the known elements are arranged by properties and are represented by one or two letters, referred to as chemical symbols

Physical Property - Measurable characteristics that describe the physical state of something, including mass, magnetism, temperature, density, shape, volume, and conductivity

Semiconductor - A substance that shows the property of electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and that of an insulator; the foundation of modern electronics.

GUIDING QUESTIONS:

How are physical properties of matter used to classify elements into three main groups?

How are physical properties such as luster, conductivity and malleability used to compare metals, nonmetals and metalloids?

SONGS

WEBSURFING SCIENCE - Metals, Non-Metals, Metalloids

USE THIS LINK TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Part 1: Metals and Nonmetals

Part 2: Atoms and Elements: Metals

Part 3: Non-Metals

All About Metalloids

So What is a Metalloid?

A metalloid is a chemical element with properties intermediate between those of typical metals and nonmetals. Metalloids are lustrous (Shiny) and malleable (able to bend and shape without breaking) like a metal, but are also only semiconductors like a nonmetal. There are some arguments in the scientific community about which elements are metalloids and which aren't, the only thing they seem to agree on is that all the metalloids are bordering the stairstep ladder, but the question is which ones. However no matter what book you look at you will always find that silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, and tellurium; are definately metalloids. (Ball, David W.)

• Boron

• Silicon

Silicon is the 2nd most commonly found element in componds of the world. Silicon is a very important element that is used for things that we use everyday in our live without even knowing it. Silicon can be found in glass, sand, rust preventives, fabric softeners, hair sprays, hand creams, automobile polishes, paints, adhesives, and even gum. (Rose, Emily Jane.)

• Germanium

Germanium is principally used as a doping agent (an impurity added to a pure substance to produce a deliberate change) in making transistor elements. (Davis, Raymond E.)

• Arsenic

Arsenic is a deadly poison, and prolonged low-dose exposure to arsenic causes cancer in human beings. Many rat poisons, insecticides, and weedkillers contain arsenic. It is also used to manufacture lead gun shot and certain types of electrical equipment, and to increase the strength of certain alloys. (Busch, Marianna A.)

• Antimony

• Tellurium

• Polonium