Metalloids

=__Metalloids__=

The 7 elements located in between the metals and nonmetals on the periodic table are called **metalloids**.



These elements are: Boron (B) Silicon (Si) Germanium (Ge) Arsenic (As) Antimony (Sb) Tellurium (Te) Polonium (Po)

Metalloids possess a combination of the traits of both metals and nonmetals. Oftentimes they act as semiconductors of electricity. Due to their combination of characteristics they may take on the appearance of a metal but have the other traits that belong to a nonmetal (or vice versa, etc.). On the standard Periodic Table layout, metalloids appear along the "staircase" that separates the metals from the nonmetals on the table. Those metalloids that appear above the line tend to have increasingly nonmetal characteristics, while those that appear below the line have characteristics that are more similar to metals. But all metalloids have characteristics of both metals and nonmetals.

An example of this would be silicon which physically appears to be a metal but lacks the malleability of a metal.



=__**Sources**__= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalloid

__Chemistry the central science ninth edition.__ Brown, Lemay, Bursten. Page 48.

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