Question: where are the alkali metals the alkaline earth metals the halogens and the noble gases?
Answer: Some of the groups have widely-used common names, including the alkali metals (Group 1) and the alkaline earth metals (Group 2) on the far left, and the halogens (Group 17) and the noble gases (Group 18) on the far right. The elements can be broadly divided into metals, nonmetals, and semimetals.