Physical Properties of Metals & Non-Metals

Metals and non-metals

 The Periodic Table contains over 100 different elements

 They can be divided into two broad types: metals and non-metals
 Most of the elements are metals and a small number of elements display properties of
both types
o These elements are called metalloids or semimetals

The metallic character diminishes moving left to right across the Periodic Table

Properties of metals

 Conduct heat and electricity

  Are malleable (can be hammered and made into different shapes) and ductile (can be
drawn into wires)
 Tend to be lustrous (shiny)
 Have high density and usually have high melting points
 Form positive ions through electron loss
 Form basic oxides

Properties of non-metal elements

 Do not conduct heat and electricity

 Are brittle when solid and easily break up
 Tend to be dull and nonreflective
 Have low density and low melting points (many are gases at room temperature)
 Form negative ions through electron gain (except for hydrogen)
 Form acidic oxides

Chemical Properties of Metals

General chemical properties of metals

 The chemistry of metals is studied by analysing their reactions with water, dilute acid and
oxygen
 Based on these reactions, a reactivity series of metals can be produced

Reactivity with water

 Some metals react with water, either warm or cold, or with steam
 Metals that react with cold water form a metal hydroxide and hydrogen gas

metal + water → metal hydroxide + hydrogen

 For example calcium:

Ca (s) + 2H2O (l) → Ca(OH)2 (aq) + H2 (g)

 Metals that react with steam form metal oxide and hydrogen gas, for example zinc:

Zn (s) + H2O (g) → ZnO (s) + H2 (g)

Reactivity with acids

 Most metals react with dilute acids such as HCl

 When acids and metals react, the hydrogen atom in the acid is replaced by the metal atom
to produce a salt and hydrogen gas, for example iron:
 metal + acid → salt + hydrogen

Fe (s) + 2HCl (aq) → FeCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

Reactivity with oxygen

 Unreactive metals such as gold and platinum do not react with oxygen
 Some reactive metals such as the alkali metals react easily with oxygen
 Copper and iron can also react with oxygen although much more slowly
 When metals react with oxygen a metal oxide is formed, for example copper:

metal + oxygen → metal oxide

2Cu (s) + O2 (g) → 2CuO (s)

Uses of Metals
Uses of Aluminium

Uses of Copper
 Properties & Uses of Alloys
 An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals or metal with a non-metal such as carbon
 Alloys often have properties that can be very different from the metals they contain, for
example, they can have more strength, hardness or resistance to corrosion or
extreme temperatures
 These enhanced properties can make alloys more useful than pure metals

The regular arrangement of a metal lattice structure is distorted in alloys

Common alloys and their uses

 Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc and is much stronger than either metal
o It is used in musical instruments, ornaments and door knobs
 Stainless steel is a mixture of iron and other elements, for example, chromium, nickel
and carbon
o It is used in cutlery because of its hardness and resistance to corrosion
 Alloys of iron with tungsten are extremely hard and resistant to high temperatures
 Alloys of iron mixed with chromium or nickel are resistant to corrosion
 Aluminium is mixed with copper, manganese and silicon for aircraft body production as
the alloy is stronger but still has a low density

Exam Tip
Alloys are mixtures of substances, they are not chemically combined and an alloy is not a
compound.
Explaining the Properties of Alloys
 Alloys contain atoms of different sizes, which distorts the normally regular
arrangements of atoms in metals
 This makes it more difficult for the layers to slide over each other, so alloys are usually
much harder than the pure metal

Reactivity Series
 The chemistry of the metals is studied by analysing their reactions with water
and acids
 Based on these reactions a reactivity series of metals can be produced
 The series can be used to place a group of metals in order of
reactivity based on the observations of their reactions with water and acids
 The non-metals hydrogen and carbon are also included in the reactivity series
as they are used to extract metals from their oxides
Table of Metal Reactions
The reactivity series mnemonic
 Observations from the table above allow the following reactivity series to be
deduced
 The order of this reactivity series can be memorised using the following
mnemonic
 o “Please send cats, monkeys and cute zebras into hot countries signed
Gordon"

You can learn the reactivity series with the help of a silly phrase
Reactions of Metals
Reaction with cold water
 The more reactive metals will react with cold water to form a metal hydroxide
and hydrogen gas
 Potassium, sodium and calcium all undergo reactions with cold water as they
are the most reactive metals:
metal + water → metal hydroxide + hydrogen
 For example, calcium and potassium:
Ca (s) + 2H2O (l) → Ca(OH)2 (aq) + H2 (g)
K (s) + H2O (l) → KOH (aq) + H2 (g)
Reaction with steam
 Metals just below calcium in the reactivity series do not react with cold water
but will react with steam to form a metal oxide and hydrogen gas, for
example, magnesium:
Mg (s) + H2O (g) → MgO (s) + H2 (g)
Reaction with dilute acids
 Only metals above hydrogen in the reactivity series will react with dilute
acids
 Unreactive metals below hydrogen, such as gold, silver and copper, do not
react with acids
 The more reactive the metal then the more vigorous the reaction will be
 Metals that are placed high on the reactivity series such as potassium and
sodium are very dangerous and react explosively with acids
 When acids react with metals they form a salt and hydrogen gas:
 The general equation is:

metal + acid ⟶ salt + hydrogen

 Some examples of metal-acid reactions and their equations are given below:
Acid-Metal Reactions Table

Reaction with oxygen

 Some reactive metals, such as the alkali metals, react easily with oxygen
  Silver, copper and iron can also react with oxygen although much more slowly
 When metals react with oxygen a metal oxide is formed, for example, copper:
metal + oxygen → metal oxide
2Cu (s) + O2 (g) → 2CuO (s)
 Gold does not react with oxygen
Deducing the order of reactivity
 The order of reactivity of metals can be deduced by making experimental
observations of reactions between metals and water, acids and oxygen
 The more vigorous the reaction of the metal, the higher up the reactivity
series the metal is
 A combination of reactions may be needed, for example, the order of
reactivity of the more reactive metals can be determined by their reactions
with water
 The less reactive metals react slowly or not at all with water, so the order of
reactivity would need to be determined by observing their reactions with
dilute acid
 Temperature change in a reaction can also be used to determine the order of
reactivity
 The greater the temperature change in a reaction involving a metal, the more
reactive the metal is

Explaining Reactivity
 Metal atoms form positive ions by loss of electrons when they react with
other substances
 The tendency of a metal to lose electrons is a measure of how reactive the
metal is
 A metal that is high up on the series loses electrons easily and is thus more
reactive than one which is lower down on the series
Displacement reactions between metals and aqueous solutions of metal
salts
 Any metal will displace another metal that is below it in the reactivity series
from a solution of one of its salts
 This is because more reactive metals lose electrons and form ions more
readily than less reactive metals, making them better reducing agents
  The less reactive metal is a better electron acceptor than the more reactive
metal, thus the less reactive metal is reduced. (OIL-RIG: reduction is gain of
electrons)l
Example: Magnesium + copper sulfate
 Magnesium is a reactive metal and can displace copper from a copper sulfate
solution
 Magnesium loses its electrons more easily and the ion of the less reactive
metal, copper, will gain these electrons to form elemental copper
 This is easily seen as the more reactive metal slowly disappears from the
solution, displacing the less reactive metal
magnesium + copper sulfate → magnesium sulfate + copper
Mg (s) + CuSO4 (aq) → MgSO4 (aq) + Cu (s)
 The blue colour of the CuSO4 solution fades as colourless magnesium sulfate
solution is formed
 Copper coats the surface of the magnesium and also forms solid metal which
falls to the bottom of the beaker

Diagram showing the colour change when magnesium displaces copper

from copper sulfate
 By combining different metals and metal salts solutions it is possible to come
up with a relative reactivity order
Metal Solutions Displacement Table
  From this table we can deduce the order of reactivity:
o Magnesium and zinc are both more reactive than iron but magnesium
is more reactive than zinc
o Copper and silver are both less reactive than iron but silver is less
reactive than copper
 The order of reactivity of the metals tested can be therefore be deduced as:
o Mg > Zn > Fe > Cu > Ag

Reactivity of aluminium
 Aluminium is high in the reactivity series, but in reality, it does not react with
water and the reaction with dilute acids can be quite slow
 This is because it reacts readily with oxygen, forming a protective layer of
aluminium oxide which is very thin
 This layer prevents reaction with water and dilute acids, so aluminium can
behave as if it is unreactive

Rusting of Iron
  Rust is a chemical reaction between iron, water and oxygen to form the
compound hydrated iron(III) oxide (rust)
 Oxygen and water must be present for rust to occur
 During rusting, iron is oxidised
iron + water + oxygen → hydrated iron(III) oxide
Investigating rusting
 To investigate the conditions required for rusting, prepare three test tubes as
shown in the diagram
 The oil in the 2nd tube keeps out air and the water has been boiled so that no
air is left in it
 The calcium chloride in the 3rd tube is used to remove any moisture in the air
 After a few days, the iron nail in the 1st tube will be the only nail to show
signs of rust

Diagram showing the requirements of oxygen and water for rust to occur:
only the nail on the left rusts
Rust prevention methods
Barrier methods
 Rust can be prevented by coating iron with barriers that prevent the iron from
coming into contact with water and oxygen
 However, if the coatings are washed away or scratched, the iron is once again
exposed to water and oxygen and will rust
Exam Tip
Only iron or steel (an alloy made from iron) can rust. If any other metal oxidises in
air causing the metal to break down, you should say that the metal has corroded.

Galvanising & Sacrificial Protection

 Iron can be prevented from rusting using the reactivity series
Sacrificial Protection
 A more reactive metal can be attached to a less reactive metal
 The more reactive metal will oxidise and therefore corrode first, protecting
the less reactive metal from corrosion
 E.g. using zinc bars on the side of steel ships:

Diagram to show the use of zinc bars on the sides of steel ships as a
method of sacrificial protection
  Zinc is more reactive than iron therefore will lose its electrons more easily
than iron and is oxidised more easily:
Zn → Zn2+ + 2e-
 The iron is less reactive therefore will not lose its electrons as easily so it is
not oxidised; the zinc is sacrificed to protect the steel
 For continued protection, the zinc bars have to be replaced before they
completely corrode
Galvanising
 Galvanising is a process where the iron to be protected is coated with a
layer of zinc
 This can be done by electroplating or dipping it into molten zinc
 ZnCO3 is formed when zinc reacts with oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air
and protects the iron by the barrier method
 If the coating is damaged or scratched, the iron is still protected from rusting
by sacrificial protection
Exam Tip
You may be asked to explain why a metal is/is not suitable as a method of
preventing an iron/steel object from rusting.
Remember that if it is higher in the reactivity series than iron, it will be suitable for
sacrificial protection as it will be oxidised instead of iron.
If it is lower in the reactivity series than iron, it would not be suitable as iron would
be oxidised, causing it to rust.