DIRECTIONS: Most elements are metals. Tick metal or non-metal for each test.
dark = metal · white = non-metal · pale gray = the awkward ones in between
#
Test it
Metal
Non-metal
1.
shiny when freshly cut or scratched?
2.
bends and dents, or shatters?
3.
carries electricity?
4.
carries heat quickly?
5.
solid at room temperature?
Test It on the Kitchen Table
Why Anything Sticks Together · Page 2 of 3
DIRECTIONS: Stand each object in a bowl of hot water for one minute, then touch the top.
#
Object
Made mostly of
Metal or not?
Warm at the top after a minute?
6.
a metal spoon
7.
a wooden spoon
8.
a plastic ruler
9.
a coin
Every object that got warm is on the same side of the table. Say which side, and what that suggests the metals have in common.
The Awkward Ones
Why Anything Sticks Together · Page 3 of 3
DIRECTIONS: Read, then answer.
Silicon sits on the metal/non-metal line. It is shiny but
brittle, and carries electricity only sometimes. A material that conducts only when you tell it to is a
switch: every computer chip is built on that.
A copper wire always conducts and a glass rod never does. Say why neither of them could be used to make a switch inside a chip.
Mercury is a metal and it is liquid at room temperature. Does that break the rule on page 1? Say what a rule with an exception in it is still good for.
Roughly what fraction of the elements on the whole table are metals? Look at page 1 and estimate.