Question

You are given a hammer, a battery, a bulb, wires and a switch.

How could you use them to distinguish between samples of metals and non-metals?

Answer 1

With the given materials two sets of experiments can be done.

Malleability test:

• Metals are malleable and can be swiftly hammered into sheets.
• Non-metals, on the other hand, degrade when hammered and cannot be formed into sheets due to their non-malleability.

Electrical conductivity test:

• Metals are good conductors of electricity, therefore when you join metals with a battery, wire, and bulb, you get a bulb.
• Similarly, if nonmetals are poor electrical conductors, they may not ignite the bulb when attached to a wire and a battery.