Properties of Elements

Elements are the simplest form of matter. They are made up of only one kind of atom and each element has specific properties that are diagnostic of that element. For example, the element gold is a lustrous yellow metal that is solid under normal conditions. It has a very high melting point (1064°C.)  It is also soft and very malleable. In contrast, mercury, a silvery colored metal, is liquid at room temperature. Some elements readily combine with other elements while some like the noble gases (e.g. Neon) are inert. An element’s chemical properties are due to its electron configuration. It is the chemical properties, how the atoms of an element interact with other atoms that we are most interested in. We will discuss this more extensively in the Chemical Bonding section. We will not spend much more time on this except to mention that the properties of a molecule or compound are not the same as the properties of the atoms which make them up.