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Metals and Non-metals: Properties and the Reactivity Series

Metals are usually shiny, hard, malleable, ductile and good conductors; non-metals are usually dull, brittle and poor conductors. Metals form basic oxides, react with water and dilute acids (giving hydrogen) and a more reactive metal pushes a less reactive one out of its salt solution. Listing metals from most to least reactive gives the reactivity series.

🎬 Step-by-step story

  1. Look at two blocks: copper (a metal) shines, can be beaten flat and carries heat and electricity. Sulphur (a non-metal) is dull, breaks into powder and does not conduct.
  2. Burn a magnesium ribbon in air. It gives a dazzling white flame and leaves white magnesium oxide. Metal oxides like this are basic.
  3. Drop sodium into water: bubbles of hydrogen gas rise and the water becomes an alkali. Many metals also give hydrogen with dilute acids.
  4. Stack the metals by how eagerly they react. The most reactive (potassium) is at the top, gold is at the bottom. This ladder is the reactivity series.
  5. Put an iron nail in blue copper sulphate. Iron is higher on the ladder, so it pushes copper out: a brown copper coat forms and the blue fades to green.
  6. Your turn: pick any metal and any salt solution. The scene tells you if displacement happens. Test the rule: higher pushes out lower.

Tip: drag the 3D scene to turn it. Use two fingers to zoom.

🤔 Common doubts, cleared

If metals are malleable, why is sodium so soft and not like iron?

Sodium is still a metal (shiny, conducts), but its metallic bonding is weak, so it is soft and melts at only about 98 °C. Softness is an exception, not a rule-breaker.

Why does magnesium burn but copper only turns black?

Magnesium is much higher in the reactivity series, so it joins oxygen fast and releases lots of heat and light. Copper reacts slowly and only forms a thin CuO layer.

Why does calcium float in water?

Hydrogen bubbles stick to its surface and lift it up, like a float.

Why can copper not give hydrogen with dilute acids?

Copper is below hydrogen on the ladder, so it is less eager than hydrogen to form ions. It cannot push hydrogen out of the acid.

Where does the blue colour go when iron is dipped in copper sulphate?

The blue comes from Cu²⁺ ions. Iron turns them into copper metal and takes their place as Fe²⁺ ions, which are pale green.

Can zinc displace iron from iron sulphate?

Yes, zinc is above iron. Try it in the free-play picker: choose Zn as the metal and Fe as the salt.

Physical properties of metals and non-metals

Metals are usually lustrous (shiny), hard, malleable (can be beaten into sheets), ductile (can be drawn into wires), sonorous (ring when struck) and good conductors of heat and electricity. Silver and copper are the best conductors; lead and mercury are rather poor ones.

Non-metals are usually dull, brittle, non-sonorous and poor conductors. Many are gases (oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine) or soft solids (sulphur, phosphorus); bromine is a liquid.

Exceptions students are asked about

Chemical properties: reaction of metals with oxygen

Most metals join with oxygen to make metal oxides, which are basic: e.g. 2Mg + O2 → 2MgO. Soluble basic oxides (Na2O, K2O) dissolve in water to form alkalis.

Some oxides such as Al2O3 and ZnO react with both acids and bases; they are amphoteric oxides. Al2O3 + 6HCl → 2AlCl3 + 3H2O and Al2O3 + 2NaOH → 2NaAlO2 + H2O.

Different metals react differently: sodium and potassium catch fire in open air, so they are stored under kerosene; magnesium burns brightly when heated; iron only burns as fine filings; copper just forms a black CuO layer; silver and gold do not react even when hot. Non-metals form acidic or neutral oxides (SO2, CO2 are acidic; CO, N2O are neutral).

Reaction of metals with water

Metal + water → metal hydroxide (or oxide) + hydrogen.

Reaction of metals with dilute acids

Metal + dilute acid → salt + hydrogen, e.g. Zn + 2HCl → ZnCl2 + H2. The fizzing is fastest for Mg, then Al, Zn, Fe. Copper gives no hydrogen with dilute HCl.

With nitric acid, hydrogen is usually not given off, because HNO3 is a strong oxidising agent that turns the hydrogen into water. Only magnesium and manganese give H2 with very dilute nitric acid. Aqua regia (3 parts conc. HCl : 1 part conc. HNO3) can dissolve gold and platinum.

Reaction of metals with salt solutions (displacement)

A more reactive metal pushes a less reactive metal out of its salt solution: Fe + CuSO4 → FeSO4 + Cu. The blue solution turns pale green and a brown copper layer forms on the nail. Copper cannot push iron out of FeSO4, so nothing happens the other way round.

The reactivity series

Arranging metals in decreasing order of reactivity gives the reactivity series: K > Na > Ca > Mg > Al > Zn > Fe > Pb > [H] > Cu > Hg > Ag > Au.

Board exams often ask you to predict a displacement, arrange metals from given observations, or explain why copper does not react with dilute HCl (usually 2–3 marks).

Key formulas and definitions

Worked examples

1. Why is sodium kept under kerosene?

Sodium reacts very fast with oxygen and moisture in air and can catch fire. Kerosene does not react with sodium and keeps air and water away.

2. Write the balanced equation for zinc with dilute sulphuric acid and name the gas.

Zn + H₂SO₄ → ZnSO₄ + H₂. The gas is hydrogen; it burns with a pop sound when a lit splinter is brought near.

3. Show that aluminium oxide is amphoteric.

With acid: Al₂O₃ + 6HCl → 2AlCl₃ + 3H₂O (acts as a base). With base: Al₂O₃ + 2NaOH → 2NaAlO₂ + H₂O (acts as an acid). Reacting with both makes it amphoteric.

4. Metal X displaces copper from CuSO₄ but not zinc from ZnSO₄. Place X in the reactivity series.

X is above Cu (it displaces Cu) but below Zn (it cannot displace Zn). So Zn > X > Cu; X could be iron or lead.

5. Silver in silver nitrate, copper strip dipped in. What do you see and why?

Copper is above silver, so Cu + 2AgNO₃ → Cu(NO₃)₂ + 2Ag. Shiny grey silver crystals form on the copper and the solution slowly turns blue.

Common mistakes

Practice quiz

1. Which metal is a liquid at room temperature?
2. Which oxide is amphoteric?
3. Which metal does NOT give hydrogen with dilute HCl?
4. Iron nail in copper sulphate solution: the solution turns
5. Which metal is at the top of the reactivity series?

Practice: answer these yourself

Type or choose your answer, then press Check. Use a hint if you are stuck; the full solution appears after you answer.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between metals and non-metals?

Metals lose electrons easily to form positive ions and basic oxides; they are shiny, malleable and conduct. Non-metals gain electrons, form acidic or neutral oxides and are usually dull and brittle.

Why is hydrogen placed in the reactivity series?

It is a reference point: metals above hydrogen can push it out of dilute acids and give H₂ gas; metals below cannot.

Is metals and non-metals important for the CBSE Class 10 board exam?

Yes. It is Chapter 3 of Class 10 Science, in the Chemical Substances unit (25 marks). Equations, the reactivity series and displacement reactions are asked almost every year.

Where this is taught

PolandLiceum ogólnokształcące, klasa IIMetals, non-metals and their compounds
PolandLiceum ogólnokształcące, klasa IIMetals, non-metals and their compounds
RomaniaClasa a VIII-aChemical changes of substances
Ukraine11 класInorganic substances and their properties
CBSE (India)Class 10Chemical Substances – Nature and Behaviour
England (GCSE, A level)Year 9Chemistry
England (GCSE, A level)Year 104.4 Chemical changes
England (GCSE, A level)Year 105.4 Chemical changes
Russia9 классMetals and their compounds
Russia9 классMetals and their compounds
Russia11 классMetals
Russia11 классInorganic chemistry
China九年级（初三）U8 Metals and metal materials

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