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Oxygen gas is increasingly obtained by these non-cryogenic technologies (see also the related vacuum swing adsorption). [103] Oxygen gas can also be produced through electrolysis of water into molecular oxygen and hydrogen. DC electricity must be used: if AC is used, the gases in each limb consist of hydrogen and oxygen in the explosive ratio 2:1.
Hydrogen is again placed by itself on account of its uniqueness. The remaining nonmetals are divided into metalloids, nonmetals, (referred to as "quintessential nonmetals"), halogens, and noble gases. Since the metalloids abut the post-transition or "poor" metals, they might be renamed as "poor non-metals". [11]
All four elements tend to form primarily ionic compounds with metals, [136] in contrast to the remaining nonmetals (except for oxygen) which tend to form primarily covalent compounds with metals. [ x ] The highly reactive and strongly electronegative nature of the halogen nonmetals epitomizes nonmetallic character.
Oxygen, sulfur, and selenium are nonmetals, and tellurium is a metalloid, meaning that its chemical properties are between those of a metal and those of a nonmetal. [7] It is not certain whether polonium is a metal or a metalloid. Some sources refer to polonium as a metalloid, [2] [27] although it has some metallic properties.
Liquid oxygen has a clear cyan color and is strongly paramagnetic: it can be suspended between the poles of a powerful horseshoe magnet. [2] Liquid oxygen has a density of 1.141 kg/L (1.141 g/ml), slightly denser than liquid water, and is cryogenic with a freezing point of 54.36 K (−218.79 °C; −361.82 °F) and a boiling point of 90.19 K (−182.96 °C; −297.33 °F) at 1 bar (14.5 psi).
From left to right in the periodic table, the nonmetals can be divided into the reactive nonmetals and the noble gases. The reactive nonmetals near the metalloids show some incipient metallic character, such as the metallic appearance of graphite, black phosphorus, selenium and iodine. The noble gases are almost completely inert.
A more refined classification is often shown in colored presentations of the periodic table. This system restricts the terms "metal" and "nonmetal" to only certain of the more broadly defined metals and nonmetals, adding additional terms for certain sets of the more broadly viewed metals and nonmetals.
An alternative in metallurgy is to consider various malleable alloys such as steel, aluminium alloys and similar as metals, and other materials as nonmetals; [20] fabricating metals is termed metalworking, [21] but there is no corresponding term for nonmetals. A loose definition such as this is often the common usage, but can also be inaccurate.