Editing Chemical element (section)

==== General properties ====
Several terms are commonly used to characterise the general physical and chemical properties of the chemical elements. A first distinction is between [[metal]]s, which readily conduct [[electricity]], [[nonmetal]]s, which do not, and a small group, (the ''[[metalloid]]s''), having intermediate properties and often behaving as [[semiconductor]]s.

A more refined classification is often shown in coloured presentations of the periodic table. This system restricts the terms "metal" and "nonmetal" to only certain of the more broadly defined metals and nonmetals, adding additional terms for certain sets of the more broadly viewed metals and nonmetals. The version of this classification used in the periodic tables presented here includes: [[actinide]]s, [[alkali metal]]s, [[alkaline earth metal]]s, [[halogen]]s, [[lanthanide]]s, [[transition metal]]s, [[post-transition metal]]s, [[metalloid]]s, [[reactive nonmetal]]s, and [[noble gas]]es. In this system, the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, and transition metals, as well as the lanthanides and the actinides, are special groups of the metals viewed in a broader sense. Similarly, the reactive nonmetals and the noble gases are nonmetals viewed in the broader sense. In some presentations, the halogens are not distinguished, with [[astatine]] identified as a metalloid and the others identified as nonmetals.