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Resembling, or possessing the properties of, a nonmetal or metalloid; as, sulphur is a nonmetallic element.

An oxide of a nonmetallic body or an organic radical, capable of forming an acid by uniting with the elements of water; -- so called because it may be formed from an acid by the abstraction of water.

pearance and physical properties, but in its chemical relations belonging to the class of nonmetallic substances. Atomic weight, 120. Symbol, Sb.

al term for some minerals, chiefly metallic sulphides which have a somewhat brilliant but nonmetallic luster.

A nonmetallic element occurring abundantly in borax. It is reduced with difficulty to the free state, when it can be obtained in several different forms; viz., as a substance of a deep olive color, in a semimetallic form, and in colorless quadratic crystals similar to the diamond in hardness and other properties. It oc…

Negative; nonmetallic; acid; -- opposed to positive, metallic, or basic.

Hence: Positive; metallic; basic; -- distinguished from negative, nonmetallic, or acid.

A suffix used to denote: (a) The nonmetallic, or negative, element or radical in a binary compound; as, oxide, sulphide, chloride. (b) A compound which is an anhydride; as, glycolide, phthalide. (c) Any one of a series of derivatives; as, indogenide, glucoside, etc.

A nonmetallic element, of the halogen group, occurring always in combination, as in the iodides. When isolated it is in the form of dark gray metallic scales, resembling plumbago, soft but brittle, and emitting a chlorinelike odor. Symbol I. Atomic weight 126.5. If heated, iodine volatilizes in beautiful violet vapors.…

Having the properties of a nonmetal; nonmetallic; acid; negative.

Metalloidal; nonmetallic; -- contracted with positive or basic; as, the nitro group is negative.

A colorless nonmetallic element, tasteless and odorless, comprising four fifths of the atmosphere by volume. It is chemically very inert in the free state, and as such is incapable of supporting life (hence the name azote still used by French chemists); but it forms many important compounds, as ammonia, nitric acid, th…

used in the sense of not; un-; in-; as in nonattention, or non-attention, nonconformity, nonmetallic, nonsuit.

A poisonous nonmetallic element of the nitrogen group, obtained as a white, or yellowish, translucent waxy substance, having a characteristic disagreeable smell. It is very active chemically, must be preserved under water, and unites with oxygen even at ordinary temperatures, giving a faint glow, -- whence its name. It…

, sometimes, an atom. As a general rule, the metallic atoms are basic radicals, while the nonmetallic atoms are acid radicals. J. P. Cooke.

A nonmetallic element of the sulphur group, and analogous to sulphur in its compounds. It is found in small quantities with sulphur and some sulphur ores, and obtained in the free state as a dark reddish powder or crystalline mass, or as a dark metallic- looking substance. It exhibits under the action of light a remark…

An old name for a nonmetallic mineral, usually cleavable and somewhat lustrous; as, calc spar, or calcite, fluor spar, etc. It was especially used in the case of the gangue minerals of a metalliferous vein. Blue spar, Cube spar, etc. See under Blue, Cube, etc.

A nonmetallic element occurring naturally in large quantities, either combined as in the sulphides (as pyrites) and sulphates (as gypsum), or native in volcanic regions, in vast beds mixed with gypsum and various earthy materials, from which it is melted out. Symbol S. Atomic weight 32. The specific gravity of ordinary…

A rare nonmetallic element found in certain minerals, as tantalite, samarskite, and fergusonite, and isolated as a dark powder which becomes steel-gray by burnishing. Symbol Ta. Atomic weight 182.0. Formerly called also tantalium.

A rare nonmetallic element, analogous to sulphur and selenium, occasionally found native as a substance of a silver-white metallic luster, but usually combined with metals, as with gold and silver in the mineral sylvanite, with mercury in Coloradoite, etc. Symbol Te. Atomic weight 125.2. Graphic tellurium. (Min.) See S…