Semimetal facts for kids

A semimetal or a metalloid is a chemical element. Metalloids are elements that have the propeties of both metal and non-metal elements. It might be shiny, but brittle. It might be dull, but conducts electricity.

The most common semimetal is silicon. Silicon has electrical conductivity between metals and nonmetals. It is a semiconductor.

An approximate way to classify metalloids is to look at the Periodic Table of elements. See the double diagonal line: top left Boron and Aluminium, bottom right Polonium and Astatine. Those diagonals are the metalloids. Some metalloids are not semimetals, and some semimetals are not metalloids.

Group

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Period

1
H

2
He

2

3
Li

4
Be

5
B

6
C

7
N

8
O

9
F

10
Ne

3

11
Na

12
Mg

13
Al

14
Si

15
P

16
S

17
Cl

18
Ar

4

19
K

20
Ca

21
Sc

22
Ti

23
V

24
Cr

25
Mn

26
Fe

27
Co

28
Ni

29
Cu

30
Zn

31
Ga

32
Ge

33
As

34
Se

35
Br

36
Kr

5

37
Rb

38
Sr

39
Y

40
Zr

41
Nb

42
Mo

43
Tc

44
Ru

45
Rh

46
Pd

47
Ag

48
Cd

49
In

50
Sn

51
Sb

52
Te

53
I

54
Xe

6

55
Cs

56
Ba

*

71
Lu

72
Hf

73
Ta

74
W

75
Re

76
Os

77
Ir

78
Pt

79
Au

80
Hg

81
Tl

82
Pb

83
Bi

84
Po

85
At

86
Rn

7

87
Fr

88
Ra

*
*

103
Lr

104
Rf

105
Db

106
Sg

107
Bh

108
Hs

109
Mt

110
Ds

111
Uuu

112
Uub

113
Uut

114
Uuq

115
Uup

116
Uuh

117
Uus

118
Uuo

* Lanthanides

57
La

58
Ce

59
Pr

60
Nd

61
Pm

62
Sm

63
Eu

64
Gd

65
Tb

66
Dy

67
Ho

68
Er

69
Tm

70
Yb

** Actinides

89
Ac

90
Th

91
Pa

92
U

93
Np

94
Pu

95
Am

96
Cm

97
Bk

98
Cf

99
Es

100
Fm

101
Md

102
No

Key
Metals	Metalloids	Nonmetals

Images for kids

Antimony, a semimetal, can be found naturally in the earth.
Arsenic is another semimetal that is very toxic.
Tellurium in a bottle. Tellurium sometimes is found naturally.
Germanium in a tube. Germanium can be used to make semiconductors. Silicon is used more.
Silicon crystal. Silicon is used to make semiconductors.
Boron in a tube. Boron is very hard.