Metals and Non-Metals

Physical properties of metal and non-metal

S.No Properties Metals Non-metals

1 Appearance Shiny(metallic luster) Dull

2 Hardness Generally hard Brittle

3 Malleability Malleable Not malleable

4 Ductility Ductile Not ductile

5 Electrical conductivity Good conductor Bad conductor

6 Thermal conductivity Good conductor Bad conductor

7 Physical state Mostly solid Solid, liquid and gas

8 Sonority Sonorous Non-sonorous

Malleability: It is the property of metal to be beaten into thin sheets.

Ductility: It is the property of metal to be drawn into thin wire.

Sonority: it is the ringing sound produced by metal when we strike its surface.

Some exceptions:
1. All metals except mercury exist as solids at room temperature.

2. All metals have high melting points but Ga and Cs have low melting points (they melt
when kept on palm).

3. Iodine is non-metal but it is lustrous.

4. Carbon has two allotropes

● Diamond (the hardest natural substance and has high melting and boiling points.
● Graphite (conductor of electricity)

5. Metals like Li, Na, and K are so soft that they can be cut with a knife. They have low
density and melting point
 Chemical properties of metal

A. REACTION WITH OXYGEN

The metal reacts with oxygen to form metal oxide, which is basic.

- Cu reacts with oxygen to form copper oxide(a black oxide)

Cu + O2 → CuO

- Al reacts with oxygen to form aluminum oxide.

Al + O2 → Al2O3

- Amphoteric oxides are those oxide that reacts with both acids as well as bases to
form salt and water

Eg: Aluminium oxide, Zinc oxide, etc.

Al2O3 + HCl → AlCl3 + H2O

Al2O3 + NaOH → NaAlO2 + H2O

- Most metal oxides are insoluble in water but some of these dissolve in water
to form alkali.

Na2O + H2O → NaOH

K2O + H2O → KOH

- Metal such as K and Na reacts so vigorously that they catch fire if kept in open.
Hence, they are kept immersed in kerosene oil.

- Metal like Mg is covered with a thin layer of oxide, which prevents the metal from
further oxidation.

- Iron doesn’t burn on heating but iron filing burns vigorously when sprinkled on the
flame of the burner.

- Ag and Au do not react with oxygen.

- Cu doesn’t burn but hot copper is coated with a black coating of Cu2O.

B. REACTION WITH WATER

- Metal reacts with water to produce metal oxide and hydrogen gas.

- K and Na react violently with cold water. The reaction is so violent and exothermic
that the evolved H2 gas catches fire.
 Na + H2O → NaOH + H2 + heat energy

K + H2O → KOH + H2 + heat energy

- Ca reaction with water is less violent and evolved H2 doesn’t catch fire on its own.

Ca + H2O → Ca(OH)2 + H2

Ca starts floating as a bubble of H2 gas forms during the stick to the surface of the
metal.

- Mg reacts with hot water and it also starts floating.

Mg + H2O → Mg(OH)2 + H2

- Metal like Al, Fe, and Zn react with steam to form metal oxide and hydrogen.

Al + H2O → Al2O3 + H2

Fe + H2O → Fe3O4 + H2

- Metal like Pb, Cu, Ag, and Au do not react with water at all.

C. REACTION WITH ACID

- Metal reacts with acid to form salt and hydrogen gas

Mg + HCl → MgCl2 + H2

Al + HCl → AlCl3 + H2

Zn + HCl → ZnCl2 + H2

Fe + HCl → FeCl2 + H2

- Hydrogen gas does not evolve when metal reacts with nitric acid because HNO3 is a
strong oxidizing agent. So it oxidizes H2 produced to H2O and itself gets reduced
to nitrogen oxide.

- Cu does not react with dil. HCl

D. REACTION WITH SOLUTION OF OTHER METAL SALT.

Fe + CuSO4 → FeSO4 + Cu

(also known as displacement reaction)

REACTIVITY SERIES: a list of metals arranged in the order of their decreasing activities.

Reactivity of element is defined by the tendency to attain the completely filled valence
shell.

IONIC COMPOUND: are those compounds which are formed by the transfer of electron
from a metal to non-metal.

● Formation of NaCl

Cl has 7 electrons in its outermost shell and it requires one more electron to
complete its octet while Na has 1 electron on its outermost shell and it has tendency
to lose one electron to complete its octet.

After losing one electron, Na become sodium cation (Na+)

After gaining one electron, Cl become chloride anion (Cl-)

Since Na and Cl ions, being oppositely charged, attract each other and held by
strong force of attraction to exist as NaCl.
 ● Formation of MgCl2

● PROPERTIES OF IONIC COMPOUND

1. Physical nature: solid and hard due to strong force of attraction between ions
but they are generally brittle.
2. Melting point and boiling point: they have high melting and boiling point
because considerable amount of energy is required to break the strong
inter-ionic attraction.
3. Solubility: they are generally soluble in water but insoluble in solvent like
kerosene, petrol etc
4. Electrical conductivity: ionic compound in solid state doesn’t conduct
electricity. But they conduct electricity in molten state because of free
movement of an ion.

Occurrence of Metals

● MINERAL: are the element/ compound which occur naturally in the earth’s
crust.
● ORE: Those mineral from which metal can be profitably extracted.

Extraction of metal: is to obtain metal from its ore.

● Metal at the top of activity series (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al)- are so reactive that they
are never found in nature as free element.
● Metal at the middle of activity series (Zn, Fe, Pb, Cu)- are moderately reactive
and are found in nature as oxide, sulphide or carbonate.
● Metal at the bottom of the activity series (Ag, Au) – are least reactive and
found in nature as free state.
● On the basis of reactivity, we can group the metal into three categories
a. Metals of low reactivity
b. Metal of medium reactivity
c. Metal of high reactivity

Steps involved in the extraction of metal from ore:

A. ENRICHMENT OF ORE(CONCENTRATION OF ORE)
● Ore mined from earth are usually contaminated with large amount of
impurities such as soil, sand, rocky impurities etc called gangue. So it is
necessary to remove these impurities before the extracting of metal.
B. CONVERSION OF CONCENTRATED ORE INTO METAL(EXTRACTION OF
METAL FROM ITS ORE)
1. Extracting metal low in the activity series:
● They are very un-reactive.
● Oxide of these metals can be reduced by heating alone.
a. Cinnabar(HgS) – ore of mercury

HgS + O2 heat→ HgO + SO2

HgO heat→ Hg + O2

b. Cu2S

Cu2S + O2 heat→ Cu2O + SO2

Cu2O + Cu2S heat→ Cu + SO2

2. Extracting metal middle in the activity series

● They are moderately reactive.

● They are present in nature as sulphide and carbonate ore.

Metal sulphide and carbonate are first converted into metal oxide.

● ROASTING: Here, sulphide ore are converted into oxide by heating strongly
in the presence of excess air

ZnS + O2 heat→ ZnO + SO2

● CALCINATION: Here, carbonate ore are converted into oxide by heating in

the presence of limited air.

ZnCO3 heat→ ZnO + H2O

Metal oxide is then reduced to corresponding metal by using reducing agent

like C

ZnO + C → Zn + CO2

● Displacement reaction can also be used to reduce metal oxide to metal.

Highly reactive metal like Na, Ca and Al are used as reducing agent.
1. MnO2 + Al → Mn + Al2O3 + heat
2. Fe2O3 + Al →Fe + Al2O3 + heat. (This reaction is also known as thermit
reaction because it is highly exothermic reaction and produce metal in
molten state. This molten metal is used to join railway tracks or cracked
machine part).
 3. Extracting metal at the top of activity series

● They are very reactive element.

● They cannot obtain from their compound by simply heating with carbon
because they have more affinity for oxygen than carbon.
● These metal are obtained by electrolytic reduction
● Sodium is obtained by electrolysis of molten sodium chloride.

Metals are liberated at cathode - Na+ + e- → Na

Chlorine is liberated at anode - Cl- → Cl2 + 2e-

C. REFINING OF METAL

● The metal obtained by reduction process are further refined by electrolytic refining.

ELECTROLYTIC REFINING

- It is used to purify metal like Cu, Zn, Sn, Ni, Au and Ag.

- Here impure metal is made the anode and a pure metal the cathode.

- Solution of metal salt is made as electrolyte.

- On passing the current through electrolyte, pure metal from anode dissolve into
electrolyte and equivalent amount of metal from electrolyte is deposited on the
cathode.

- The soluble impurities go into the solution whereas insoluble impurities settle down
at the bottom of anode and are known as anode mud.
 Example of corrosion

1. Silver articles become black after some time when exposed to air. This is
because it reacts with sulphur in the air to form a coating of silver sulphide.
2. Copper reacts with moist carbon dioxide in the air and slowly loses its shiny
brown surface and gains a green coat. This green substance is copper
carbonate.
3. Iron when exposed to moist air for a long time acquires a coating of a brown
flaky substance called rust.

Prevention of corrosion

● Rusting of iron can be prevented by painting, oiling, greasing, galvanizing,

chrome plating, alloying or anodizing (process of formation of thick oxide layer
of Al).
● Galvanization: is the process of coating metal with thin layer of zinc.

Alloying: is a homogenous mixture of 2 or more metals or metals and non-metal.

● Alloying changes the properties of metal

● Electrical conductivity and the melting point of an alloy is less than that of
pure metal.

Examples :

a. Amalgam: is an alloy where one of the metals is mercury.

b. Brass: is an alloy of Cu and Zn
c. Bronze: is an alloy of Cu and Sn.
● Copper is a good conductor of electricity but brass and bronze is bad conductor of
electricity.
d. Stainless steel: is an alloy of Fe, Ni and Cr.
e. Solder: an alloy of Pb and Sn(low melting point and is used for
welding electrical wire)
f. 22-carat gold: 22 parts of pure gold is alloyed with 2 parts of either Cu
or Ag