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Metalloid

 

 
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Metalloid
 
 
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is a term used in chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 when classifying the chemical element
Chemical element

A chemical element is a type of atom that is distinguished by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its atomic nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical Chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons....
s. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, nearly every element in the periodic table
Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....
 can be termed either a metal
Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
 or a nonmetal
Nonmetal

Nonmetal is a term used in chemistry when classifying the chemical elements. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, every element in the periodic table can be termed either a metal or a nonmetal....
. However, a few elements with intermediate properties are referred to as metalloids (from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 metallon = "metal" and eidos = "sort"). They are sometimes alternatively called and confused with semiconductors and semimetals.

There is no rigorous definition of the term, but the following properties are usually considered characteristic of metalloids:

The concepts of metalloid and semiconductor
Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
 should not be confused.






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is a term used in chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 when classifying the chemical element
Chemical element

A chemical element is a type of atom that is distinguished by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its atomic nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical Chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons....
s. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, nearly every element in the periodic table
Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....
 can be termed either a metal
Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
 or a nonmetal
Nonmetal

Nonmetal is a term used in chemistry when classifying the chemical elements. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, every element in the periodic table can be termed either a metal or a nonmetal....
. However, a few elements with intermediate properties are referred to as metalloids (from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 metallon = "metal" and eidos = "sort"). They are sometimes alternatively called and confused with semiconductors and semimetals.

There is no rigorous definition of the term, but the following properties are usually considered characteristic of metalloids:
  • metalloids often form amphoteric
    Amphoterism

    In chemistry, an amphoteric substance is one that can react as either an acid or base . The word is derived from the Greek prefix ampho- meaning "both"....
     oxide
    Oxide

    An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
    s.
  • metalloids often behave as semiconductor
    Semiconductor

    A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
    s (B,Si,Ge).


The concepts of metalloid and semiconductor
Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
 should not be confused. Metalloid refers to the properties of certain elements in relation to the periodic table. Semiconductor refers to the physical properties of materials (including alloys, compounds) and there is only partial overlap between the two.

The following elements are generally considered metalloids:
  • Boron
    Boron

    Boron is a chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a trivalent metalloid element which occurs abundantly in the evaporite ores borax and ulexite....
     (B)
  • Silicon
    Silicon

    Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
     (Si)
  • Germanium
    Germanium

    Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, greyish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon....
     (Ge)
  • Arsenic
    Arsenic

    Arsenic is a well-known chemical element that has the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250....
     (As)
  • Antimony
    Antimony

    Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb and atomic number 51. A metalloid, antimony has four allotropy forms. The stable form of antimony is a blue-white metalloid....
     (Sb)
  • Tellurium
    Tellurium

    Tellurium is a chemical element that has the symbol Te and atomic number 52. A brittle silver-white metalloid which looks like tin, tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur....
     (Te)
  • Polonium
    Polonium

    Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive metalloid, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uranium ores....
     (Po)


Some allotropes of elements exhibit more pronounced metal, metalloid or non-metal behavior than others. For example, for the element carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
, its diamond
Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is the Allotropes of carbon where the carbon atoms are arranged in an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal lattice. After graphite, diamond is the second most stable form of carbon....
 allotrope is clearly non-metallic, but the graphite
Graphite

The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Greek language ??afe?? : "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead, as distinguished from the actual metallic element lead....
 allotrope displays limited electric conductivity more characteristic of a metalloid. Phosphorus
Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
, tin
Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
, selenium
Selenium

Selenium is a chemical element with the atomic number 34, represented by the chemical symbol Se, an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, chemically related to sulfur and tellurium, and rarely occurs in its elemental state in nature....
 and bismuth
Bismuth

Bismuth is a chemical element that has the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. This heavy, brittle, white crystalline trivalent poor metal has a pink tinge and chemically resembles arsenic and antimony....
 also have allotropes that display borderline behavior.

In the standard layout of the periodic table
Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....
, metalloids occur along the diagonal line through the p block from boron to astatine. Elements to the upper right of this line display increasing nonmetallic behaviour; elements to the lower left display increasing metallic behaviour. This line is called the "stair-step" or "staircase." The poor metals are to the left and down and the nonmetal
Nonmetal

Nonmetal is a term used in chemistry when classifying the chemical elements. On the basis of their general physical and chemical properties, every element in the periodic table can be termed either a metal or a nonmetal....
s are to the right and up.

13
Boron group

The boron group is the chemical series of Chemical element in periodic table group in the periodic table. The boron group consists of boron , aluminium , gallium , indium , thallium , and ununtrium ....
14
Carbon group

The carbon group is group 14 in the periodic table. Once also known as the tetrels , stemming from the earlier naming convention of this group as Group IVA....
1516
Chalcogen

The chalcogens are the Chemical element in periodic table group 16 of the periodic table. It is sometimes known as the oxygen family. It consists of the chemical element oxygen , sulfur , selenium , tellurium , the radioactive element polonium , and the synthetic element ununhexium ....
17
Halogen

|}The halogens or halogen elements are a chemical series of nonmetal chemical element from Periodic table group International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry of the periodic table, comprising fluorine, F; chlorine, Cl; bromine, Br; iodine, I; and astatine, At....
B
Boron		 C
Carbon		 N
Nitrogen		 O
Oxygen		 F
Fluorine
Al
Aluminium		 Si
Silicon		 P
Phosphorus		 S
Sulfur		 Cl
Chlorine
Ga
Gallium		 Ge
Germanium		 As
Arsenic		 Se
Selenium		 Br
Bromine
In
Indium		 Sn
Tin		 Sb
Antimony		 Te
Tellurium		 I
Iodine
Tl
Thallium		 Pb
Lead		 Bi
Bismuth		 Po
Polonium | At
Astatine


See also

  • Amphoteric line
    Amphoteric Line

    The amphoteric line is a line on the periodic table of the Chemical element separating metals from nonmetals. Metalloids lie distributed along this line....