Nonmetals List (Element Groups)

The nonmetals or non-metals are a group of elements located on the right side of the periodic table (except for hydrogen, which is on the top left). These elements are distinctive in that they typically have low melting and boiling points, don't conduct heat or electricity very well, and tend to have high ionization energies and electronegativity values. They also don't have the shiny "metallic" appearance associated with the metals.

While the metals are malleable and ductile, the nonmetals tend to form brittle solids. The nonmetals tend to gain electrons readily to fill their valence electrons shells, so their atoms often form negative-charged ions. Atoms of these elements have oxidation numbers of +/- 4, -3, and -2.

List of Nonmetals (Element Group)

There are 7 elements that belong to the nonmetals group:

• Hydrogen (sometimes considered an alkali metal)
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Oxygen
• Phosphorus
• Sulfur
• Selenium

Although these are the elements in the group nonmetals, there are two additional element groups that could be included, since the halogens and noble gases also are types of nonmetals.

List of All Elements That Are Nonmetals

So, if we include the nonmetals group, halogens, and noble gases, all of the elements that are nonmetals are:

• Hydrogen (sometimes)
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Oxygen
• Phosphorus
• Sulfur
• Selenium
• Fluorine
• Chlorine
• Bromine
• Iodine
• Astatine
• Tennessine (sometimes considered a halogen or metalloid)
• Helium
• Neon
• Argon
• Krypton
• Xenon
• Radon
• Oganesson (possibly behaves as a "noble gas", except it won't be a gas under ordinary conditions)

Metallic Nonmetals

Nonmetals are classified based on their properties under ordinary conditions. Metallic character isn't an all-or-nothing property. Carbon, for example, has allotropes that behave more like metals than nonmetals. Sometimes this element is considered to be a metalloid rather than a nonmetal. Hydrogen acts as an alkali metal under extreme pressure. Even oxygen has a metallic form as a solid.

Significance of the Nonmetals Element Group

Even though there are only 7 elements within the nonmetals group, two of these elements (hydrogen and helium) make up about 98% of the mass of the universe. Nonmetals form more compounds than metals. Living organisms consist mainly of nonmetals.