Dividing line between metals and nonmetals - wikipedia Dividing line between metals and nonmetals 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 He Li Be Ne Na Mg Al Si Cl Ar Ca Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr Rb Sr Cd In Sn Sb Te Xe Cs Ba Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn Fr Ra Cn Nh Fl Mc Lv Ts Og Condensed periodic table showing a typical metal -- nonmetal dividing line. Elements commonly recognised as metalloids ( boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium ) and those inconsistently recognised as such ( polonium and astatine ) Metal - nonmetal dividing line ( arbitrary ) : between Li and H, Be and B, Al and Si, Ge and As, Sb and Te, Po and At, Ts and Og Part of a series on the Periodic table Periodic table forms 18 - column large cells 32 - column ( large cells ) Alternative forms Chemical Galaxy Janet 's left step Beyond period 7 Fricke large cells Pyykkö Periodic table history Dmitri Mendeleev predictions Discovery of elements Naming & etymology for places for scientists controversies ( in East Asia ) Systematic element names Sets of elements By periodic table structure Groups ( 1 -- 18 ) 1 ( alkali metals ) 2 ( alkaline earth metals ) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ( pnictogens ) 16 ( chalcogens ) 17 ( halogens ) 18 ( noble gases ) Periods ( 1 -- 7... ) 5 6 7 8 + Aufbau Fricke Pyykkö Blocks ( s, p, d, f,... ) Atomic orbitals Aufbau principle By metallic classification Metals alkali alkaline earth transition post-transition lanthanide actinide ( super - / eka - super - ) Metalloids dividing metals & nonmetals Nonmetals polyatomic diatomic monatomic ( noble gas ) By other characteristics Coinage metals Platinum - group metals Precious metals Refractory metals Heavy metals Light metals Native metals Noble metals Main - group elements Rare - earth elements Transuranium, transplutonium elements Major, minor & trans - actinides Elements List of chemical elements... by abundance ( in human body ) by atomic properties by isotope stability by annual production by symbol Properties of elements Atomic weight Crystal structure Electron affinity configuration Electronegativity ( ( Allen ) ) ( ( Pauling ) ) Goldschmidt classification Nutrition Valence Data pages for elements Abundance Atomic radius Boiling point Critical point Density Elasticity Electrical resistivity Electron affinity / configuration Electronegativity Hardness Heat capacity / of fusion / of vaporization Ionization energy Melting point Oxidation state Speed of sound Thermal conductivity / expansion coefficient Vapor pressure Book Category Chemistry Portal The dividing line between metals and nonmetals can be found, in varying configurations, on some representations of the periodic table of the elements ( see mini-example, right ). Elements to the lower left of the line generally display increasing metallic behaviour ; elements to the upper right display increasing nonmetallic behaviour. When presented as a regular stair - step, elements with the highest critical temperature for their groups ( Li, Be, Al, Ge, Sb, Po ) lie just below the line. Contents 1 Names 2 History 3 Double line variant 4 Concerns 5 Notes 6 Citations 7 References 8 External links Names This line has been called the amphoteric line, the metal - nonmetal line, the metalloid line, the semimetal line, or the staircase. It is also erroneously referred to as the Zintl border or the Zintl line. The last two terms instead refer to a vertical line sometimes drawn between groups 13 and 14. This particular line was christened by Laves in 1941. It differentiates group 13 elements from those in and to the right of group 14. The former generally combine with electropositive metals to make intermetallic compounds whereas the latter usually form salt - like compounds. History References to a dividing line between metals and nonmetals appear in the literature as far back as at least 1869. In 1891, Walker published a periodic ' tabulation ' with a diagonal straight line drawn between the metals and the nonmetals. In 1906, Alexander Smith published a periodic table with a zigzag line separating the nonmetals from the rest of elements, in his highly influential textbook Introduction to General Inorganic Chemistry. In 1923, Horace G. Deming, an American chemist, published short ( Mendeleev style ) and medium ( 18 - column ) form periodic tables. Each one had a regular stepped line separating metals from nonmetals. Merck and Company prepared a handout form of Deming 's 18 - column table, in 1928, which was widely circulated in American schools. By the 1930s Deming 's table was appearing in handbooks and encyclopaedias of chemistry. It was also distributed for many years by the Sargent - Welch Scientific Company. Double line variant A dividing line between metals and nonmetals is sometimes replaced by two dividing lines. One line separates metals and metalloids ; the other metalloids and nonmetals. Concerns Mendeleev wrote that, ' It is... impossible to draw a strict line of demarcation between metals and nonmetals, there being many intermediate substances '. Several other sources note confusion or ambiguity as to the location of the dividing line ; suggest its apparent arbitrariness provides grounds for refuting its validity ; and comment as to its misleading, contentious or approximate nature. Deming himself noted that the line could not be drawn very accurately. Notes Jump up ^ Sacks described the dividing line as, ' A jagged line, like Hadrian 's Wall... ( separating ) the metals from the rest, with a few `` semimetals, '' metalloids -- arsenic, selenium -- straddling the wall. ' Jump up ^ In the context of Mendeleev 's observation, Glinka adds that : ' In classing an element as a metal or a nonmetal we only indicate which of its properties -- metallic or nonmetallic -- are more pronounced in it '. Jump up ^ Mendeleev regarded tellurium as such an intermediate substance : '... it is a bad conductor of heat and electricity, and in this respect, as in many others, it forms a transition from the metals to the nonmetals. ' Citations Jump up ^ Horvath 1973, p. 336 ^ Jump up to : Levy 2001, p. 158 Jump up ^ Tarendash 2001, p. 78 Jump up ^ Thompson 1999 Jump up ^ DiSalvo 2000, p. 1800 Jump up ^ Whitley 2009 Jump up ^ Sacks 2001, pp. 191, 194 Jump up ^ King 2005, p. 6006 Jump up ^ Herchenroeder & Gschneidner 1988 Jump up ^ De Graef & McHenry 2007, p. 34 Jump up ^ Kniep 1996, p. xix Jump up ^ Nordell & Miller 1999, p. 579 Jump up ^ Hinrichs 1869, p. 115. In his article Hinrichs included a periodic table, organized by atomic weight, but this did not show a metal - nonmetal dividing line. Rather, he wrote that, '... elements of like properties or their compounds of like properties, form groups bounded by simple lines. Thus a line drawn through C, As, Te, separates the elements, having metallic lustre from those not having such lustre. The gaseous elements form a small group by themselves, the condensible ( sic ) chlorine forming the boundary... So also the boundary lines for other properties may be drawn. ' Jump up ^ Walker 1891, p. 252 Jump up ^ Miles & Gould 1976, p. 444 : ' His `` Introduction to General Inorganic Chemistry, '' 1906, was one of the most important textbooks in the field during the first quarter of the twentieth century. ' Jump up ^ Smith 1906, pp. 408, 410 Jump up ^ Deming 1923, pp. 160, 165 Jump up ^ Abraham, Coshow & Fix, W 1994, p. 3 Jump up ^ Emsley 1985, p. 36 Jump up ^ Fluck 1988, p. 432 Jump up ^ Brown & Holme 2006, p. 57 Jump up ^ Swenson 2005 Jump up ^ Mendeléeff 1897, p. 23 Jump up ^ Glinka 1959, p. 77 Jump up ^ Mendeléeff 1897, p. 274 Jump up ^ MacKay & MacKay 1989, p. 24 Jump up ^ Norman 1997, p. 31 Jump up ^ Whitten, Davis & Peck 2003, p. 1140 Jump up ^ Roher 2001, pp. 4 -- 6 Jump up ^ Hawkes 2001, p. 1686 Jump up ^ Kotz, Treichel & Weaver 2005, pp. 79 -- 80 Jump up ^ Housecroft & Constable 2006, p. 322 Jump up ^ Deming 1923, p. 381 References Abraham M, Coshow, D & Fix, W 1994, Periodicity : A source book module, version 1.0. Chemsource, Inc., New York, viewed 26 Aug 11 Brown L & Holme T 2006, Chemistry for engineering students, Thomson Brooks / Cole, Belmont CA, ISBN 0 - 495 - 01718 - 3 De Graef M & McHenry ME 2007, Structure of materials : an introduction to crystallography, diffraction and symmetry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0 - 521 - 65151 - 4 Deming HG 1923, General chemistry : An elementary survey, John Wiley & Sons, New York DiSalvo FJ 2000, ' Challenges and opportunities in solid - state chemistry ', Pure and Applied Chemistry, vol. 72, no. 10, pp. 1799 -- 1807, doi : 10.1351 / pac200072101799 Emsley J, 1985 ' Mendeleyev 's dream table ', New Scientist, 7 March, pp. 32 -- 36 Fluck E 1988, ' New notations in the period table ', Pure & Applied Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 431 -- 436 Glinka N 1959, General chemistry, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow Hawkes SJ 2001, ' Semimetallicity ', Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 78, no. 12, pp. 1686 -- 87, doi : 10.1021 / ed078p1686 Herchenroeder JW & Gschneidner KA 1988, ' Stable, metastable and nonexistent allotropes ', Journal of Phase Equilibria, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 2 -- 12, doi : 10.1007 / BF02877443 Hinrichs GD 1869, ' On the classification and the atomic weights of the so - called chemical elements, with particular reference to Stas 's determinations ', Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 18, pp. 112 -- 124 Horvath 1973, ' Critical temperature of elements and the periodic system ', Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 335 -- 336, doi : 10.1021 / ed050p335 Housecroft CE & Constable EC 2006, Chemistry, 3rd ed., Pearson Education, Harlow, England, ISBN 0 - 13 - 127567 - 4 King RB ( ed. ) 2005, Encyclopedia of inorganic chemistry, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, p. 6006, ISBN 0 - 470 - 86078 - 2 Kniep R 1996, ' Eduard Zintl : His life and scholarly work ', in SM Kauzlarich ( ed. ), Chemistry, structure and bonding of Zintl phases and ions, VCH, New York, pp. xvii -- xxx, ISBN 1 - 56081 - 900 - 6 Kotz JC, Treichel P & Weaver GC 2005, Chemistry & chemical reactivity, 6th ed., Brooks / Cole, Belmont, CA, ISBN 0 - 534 - 99766 - X Levy J 2011, The bedside book of chemistry, Pier 9, Millers Point, Sydney, ISBN 978 - 1 - 74266 - 035 - 6 MacKay KM & MacKay RA 1989, Introduction to modern inorganic chemistry, 4th ed., Blackie, Glasgow, ISBN 0 - 216 - 92534 - 7 Mendeléeff DI 1897, The principles of chemistry, vol. 1, 5th ed., trans. G Kamensky, AJ Greenaway ( ed. ), Longmans, Green & Co., London Miles WD & Gould RF 1976, American chemists and chemical engineers, vol. 1, American Chemical Society, Washington Nordell KJ & Miller GJ 1999, ' Linking intermetallics and Zintl compounds : An investigation of ternary trielides ( Al, Ga, In ) forming the NaZn structure type ', Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 579 -- 590 Norman NC 1997, Periodicity and the s - and p - block elements, Oxford University, Oxford, ISBN 0 - 19 - 855961 - 5 Roher GS 2001, Structure and bonding in crystalline materials, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0 - 521 - 66379 - 2 Smith A 1906, Introduction to general inorganic chemistry, The Century Company, New York Swenson J 2005, ' Classification of noble gases ', in Ask a scientist, Chemistry archive Tarendash AS 2001, Let 's review : Chemistry, the physical setting, Barron 's Educational Series, Hauppauge, New York, ISBN 0 - 7641 - 1664 - 9 Thompson R 1999, ' Re : What is the metalloid line and where is it located on the Periodic Table ? ', MadSci Network Walker J 1891, ' On the periodic tabulation of the elements ', The Chemical News, vol. LXIII, no. 1644, May 29, pp. 251 -- 253 Whitley K 2009, Periodic table : Metals, non-metals, and semi-metals Whitten KW, Davis RE & Peck LM 2003, A qualitative analysis supplement, 7th ed., Thomson Brooks / Cole, Belmont, CA, ISBN 0 - 534 - 40876 - 1 External links Summary of an ACS presentation on the `` myth '' of the dividing line Periodic table Periodic table forms Standard 18 - column 18 - column, large cells 32 - column, large cells Alternative Alternatives Chemical Galaxy Janet 's left step table Extended Extension beyond the 7th period Fricke model large cells Pyykkö model Sets of elements By periodic table structure Groups 1 ( Alkali metals ) 2 ( Alkaline earth metals ) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ( Pnictogens ) 16 ( Chalcogens ) 17 ( Halogens ) 18 ( Noble gases ) Periods 5 6 7 8 + Aufbau Fricke Pyykkö Blocks s - block p - block d - block f - block g - block Aufbau principle By metallicity Metals Alkali metals Alkaline earth metals Lanthanides Actinides Superactinides Eka - superactinides Transition metals Post-transition metals Metalloids Lists of metalloids by source Dividing line Nonmetals Polyatomic nonmetals Diatomic nonmetals Noble gases Other sets Nutritional elements Platinum - group metals ( PGM ) Rare - earth elements Refractory metals Precious metals Coinage metals Noble metal Heavy metals Native metals Transuranium elements Transactinide elements Major actinides Minor actinides Elements Lists By : Abundance ( in humans ) Atomic properties Nuclear stability Production Symbol Properties Atomic weight Crystal structure Electron affinity Electron configuration Electronegativity Allen Pauling Goldschmidt classification Maximum valence Data pages Abundance Atomic radius Boiling point Critical point Density Elasticity Electrical resistivity Electron affinity Electron configuration Electronegativity Hardness Heat capacity Heat of fusion Heat of vaporization Ionization energy Melting point Oxidation state Speed of sound Thermal conductivity Thermal expansion coefficient Vapor pressure History Element discoveries Mendeleev 's predictions Naming Etymology controversies places scientists in East Asia See also IUPAC nomenclature systematic element name Trivial name Dmitri Mendeleev Book Category Chemistry Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dividing_line_between_metals_and_nonmetals&oldid=803447418 '' Categories : Periodic table Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 2 October 2017, at 16 : 07. 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Question: what is the zig zag line in the periodic table
Answer: dividing line between metals and nonmetals