Actinide

Is Nobelium a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?

Quick answer

Nobelium (No) is a metal (an actinide) — an actinide — a radioactive f-block metal of period 7. It sits in the f-block, period 7, and is a solid at room temperature.

Looking for Nobelium's metal or nonmetal without wading through a whole chapter? Here is the direct answer first, then the tables and derivations examiners want to see. Every number on this page comes from the same engine that powers the interactive table. Need the whole picture instead — history, characteristics, uses, exam questions? The full Nobelium page is one click away.

The one-line answer, with reasons

Nobelium is a metal (an actinide). Chemists decide by behaviour, not appearance: metals (like Nobelium) give up electrons, shine when freshly cut, and conduct heat and electricity; nonmetals take or share electrons and (as solids) break rather than bend. Nobelium checks every metal box — placed in the actinide family of the table.

Nobelium's metal/nonmetal report card

PropertyValueTypical of
CategoryActinide—
Phase at room tempsolidmetals are usually solid
Blockf-block—
Groupf-block—
Period7—

The family it belongs to

The whole actinide family shares one seating area of the table, and every member's family ID card is one click away — compare Nobelium with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.

Students also ask

Is Nobelium a good conductor of electricity?

Yes — like other metals, Nobelium conducts electricity and heat well, thanks to its sea of free electrons.

Can a gas be a metal — like Nobelium?

Yes — being a metal or nonmetal is about bonding and electron behaviour, not state. At room temperature Nobelium is a solid, and that says nothing against its metallic character.