Is Helium a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?
Helium (He) is a nonmetal (a noble gas) — a noble gas — a nonmetal whose outer shell is already complete, so it hardly reacts with anyone. It sits in group 18, period 1, and is a gas at room temperature.
Teachers call it "one fact, fully handled" — exactly what this page does for Helium. The answer sits at the top in bold; scroll for the working, the shell-by-shell breakdown and the two questions students ask most. Need the whole picture instead — history, characteristics, uses, exam questions? The full Helium page is one click away.
The one-line answer, with reasons
Helium is a nonmetal (a noble gas). Chemists decide by behaviour, not appearance: metals (unlike Helium) give up electrons, shine when freshly cut, and conduct heat and electricity; nonmetals take or share electrons and (as solids) break rather than bend. Helium follows the nonmetal playbook — placed in the noble gas family of the table.
Helium's metal/nonmetal report card
| Property | Value | Typical of |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Noble gas | — |
| Phase at room temp | gas | varies |
| Block | p-block | — |
| Group | 18 | — |
| Period | 1 | — |
The family it belongs to
The whole noble gas family shares one seating area of the table, and every member's family ID card is one click away — compare Helium with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.
Students also ask
Is Helium a good conductor of electricity?
No — Helium is a nonmetal and does not conduct the way metals do.
Can a gas be a nonmetal — like Helium?
Yes — being a metal or nonmetal is about bonding and electron behaviour, not state. At room temperature Helium is a gas, and that says nothing against its nonmetallic character.