On November first, the 10th grade Chemistry students practiced identifying unknown elements as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids by conducting a variety of tests on them. There were seven stations set up around the classroom with different elements on each. The students would go around to each station and conduct 3 tests to try to classify each element. They would test if the element is malleable, conductive, and reactive.
To test malleability, they would place a small piece of the element on a safe surface and then hit it with a hammer a few times to see if it flattened. If it did, then it is malleable however if it shattered, it is brittle. To test conductivity, the students used a conductivity meter. They would touch the meter to the element and determine if it is conductive, semi-conductive, or non conductive based on how strong the lights on the meter light up. Finally, to test reactivity, a small amount of the element was placed in a test tube and combined with CuCL2. They would watch it for a few minutes to see if a reaction occurs in order to determine if that element is reactive.
The purpose of this lab was to introduce the students on the tests necessary in order to classify elements as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids. They also learned the different properties of those correlating to where they are found on the periodic table.
