The term metalloids has been used to arbitrarily classify those elements whose properties are considered to be intermediate between those of obvious metals and obvious non-metals. The elements are spread across four groups of the Periodic Table (Figure E25). Traditionally they include boron from group 3A, silicon and germanium in group 4A, aresnic and antimony in group 5A and tellurium from group 6A, although sometimes selenium, astatine, polonium and even bismuth have also been considered as metalloids. Typically metalloids are brittle and show a semi-metallic luster. They are generally semiconductors, although arsenic and antimony have electrical conductivities that approach those of metals. Elements above these elements in their respective groups are clearly considered as non-metals, and those below are metals.
Groups 3–6 of the Periodic Table showing the metalloid elements.
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∗Additional bibliographci references may be found in this work.
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Batley, G.E. (1998). Elements: Metalloids . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_106
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