A shiny surface — copper, aluminium, iron.
Beaten into thin sheets — gold and silver most of all.
Drawn into wires — 1g of gold stretches into 2km of wire.
Rings when struck — think bells.
Metals conduct heat well — cooking vessels are metal, but handles are wood.
Aluminium, iron, and copper conduct it — that's why electricians wear rubber gloves.
Sodium and potassium are soft enough to cut with a knife.
Mercury stays liquid at room temperature.
Nail + silica gel, sealed. No rust forms.
Nail fully underwater, sealed. No rust forms.
Nail half in water, open to air. Rust forms.
Rust is the brown deposit on iron. Corrosion is the broader wearing-away of any metal — like green on copper, black on silver.
Painting, oiling, greasing, or galvanisation (coating iron with zinc) keep air and water away.
Burns with a dazzling white flame; its oxide turns red litmus blue — basic.
Burns to form a gas that turns blue litmus red — acidic, like most non-metal oxides.
Reacts vigorously with air and water — stored under kerosene.
Catches fire the moment it meets air — stored underwater.
Shiny, malleable, ductile, ring when struck, conduct heat and electricity well — oxides are basic.
Dull, often brittle, no ringing sound, poor conductors — oxides are acidic.
Essential for breathing and survival.
The building block of all life forms.
Used in fertilisers, essential for plant growth.
Chlorine purifies water; iodine is an antiseptic.
The shiny appearance of metals.
Being beaten into thin sheets.
Being drawn into wires.
Producing a ringing sound when struck.
The brown deposit on iron / how it forms.
Gradual wearing away of a metal surface.
Coating iron with zinc to prevent rusting.
A mixture of metals, or metal with non-metal.