whereas the latter usually form salt-like compounds.

History

References to a dividing line between metals and nonmetals appear in the literature as far back as at least 1869. In 1891, Walker published a periodic "tabulation" with a diagonal straight line drawn between the metals and the nonmetals. In 1906, Alexander Smith published a periodic table with a zigzag line separating the nonmetals from the rest of elements, in his highly influential textbook Introduction to General

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