How Many Metals are on The Periodic Table

Introduction

The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements from hydrogen, the element with the lowest atomic number, to Oganesson, the element with the highest atomic number. The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in that element's atomic nucleus. Hydrogen has 1 proton and Oganesson has 118.

What is Metal?

Metals lose electrons easily, are shiny (reflective), malleable (can take different shapes), and are good conductors of heat and electricity.

Metals are very important to our way of life. They are not only part of our design and technology but are essential to the production of almost every item. A cursory look at our surroundings reveals many metals that play an important role. However, we are not always aware that our bodies also depend on metal.

Metals on The Periodic Table

On the periodic table, you can see a cascading line that starts at boron (B) with atomic number 5 and goes to polonium (Po) with atomic number 84. All elements to the left of this line can be classified as metals, except for germanium (Ge) and antimony (Sb).

These metals have properties commonly associated with metals encountered in everyday life. They are solids (except mercury, Hg, and liquids).

• They are shiny and conduct electricity and heat well.

• Plastic (thin wire can be pulled out).

• They are malleable (can be easily hammered into very thin sheets).

All these metals tend to lose electrons easily. The following picture shows a metal.

Examples of Metals

Common examples of metals include gold, silver, copper, platinum, and iron. Gold and silver are used in the form of jewellery and ornaments.

Iron is used to make nails and rods. At home, in the kitchen, we use copper bottles to store water and aluminium sheets to wrap food.

Mercury fills a glass thermometer. Sodium metal is used for qualitative analysis.

Some examples of everyday metal products include: a) iron nails (b) a platinum ring

Types of Metals on The Periodic Table

Based on their chemical properties, metals are divided into five types. Different types of metals have different valence electron configurations and therefore have different chemical properties.

• Alkali Metals: Alkali metals are located in the upper left corner of the periodic table. The first group of s-blocks includes alkali metals. Shown as IA.

• Alkaline Earth Metals: Alkaline earth metals also exist in the upper left corner of the periodic table. The second group of s-blocks includes alkaline earth metals. Displayed as IIA.

• Transition Metals: Transition metals are in the middle of the periodic table. D blocks represent transition metals. These metals belong to the third, fourth and fifth periods of groups 3 to 12. Groups are named from IB to VIII B.

• Lanthanides: Lanthanides are also found in the centre of the periodic desk. The first period of the f-block represents lanthanide in 6 periods.

• Actinides: The actinides are also in the middle of the periodic table. The second period of the f-block is the actinide in the seventh period.

Conclusion

There are about 70 metals out of 92 natural elements on the periodic table. Metals are very important to our way of life. They are not only part of our design and technology but are essential to the production of almost every item. The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements from hydrogen, the element with the lowest atomic number, to Oganesson, the element with the highest atomic number.