Question

Name one solid, one liquid and gaseous non-metal.

Answer 1

Hint: Non-metals are usually found towards the right side of the periodic table. Elements at the beginning of the non-metal elements are generally solids, while most non-metals are gases. A popular liquid non-metal is present as the fourth element of the halogen group.

Complete step by step answer:
As we know, metallic character decreases along a period from left to right in the periodic table. This is mainly due to the increase in effective nuclear charge, caused by the addition of more and more electrons into a shell.
Therefore, almost all non-metals are found towards the right side of the periodic table.
When we think of a non-metal, the first name that might come to our mind is carbon. And indeed, carbon is a solid non-metal. Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on earth and is known to form more than ten million compounds. This is due to its ability to link up with other molecules by forming strong covalent bonds.
Moving on to a liquid non-metal, the most popular and commonly available liquid non-metal is the halogen bromine. Bromine exists as a liquid at room temperature due to stronger intermolecular forces than other halogens like fluorine and chlorine.
And lastly, most non-metals are gaseous in nature. A few common examples are oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine etc. These elements remain as gases due to poor forces of attraction between constituent molecules.

Note: Generally, non-metal solids are brittle. Non-metals are typically poor conductors of heat and electricity and possess no lustre or shine like metals do. They generally have high values of ionisation enthalpy, and low values of electron gain enthalpy.