Is Lithium a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?
Lithium (Li) is a metal — a soft, shiny metal with one loosely-held valence electron — so keen to give it away that it must be stored under oil. It sits in group 1, period 2, and is a solid at room temperature.
Looking for Lithium'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 Lithium page is one click away.
The one-line answer, with reasons
Lithium is a metal. Chemists decide by behaviour, not appearance: metals (like Lithium) give up electrons, shine when freshly cut, and conduct heat and electricity; nonmetals take or share electrons and (as solids) break rather than bend. Lithium checks every metal box — placed in the alkali metal family of the table.
Lithium's metal/nonmetal report card
| Property | Value | Typical of |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Alkali metal | — |
| Phase at room temp | solid | metals are usually solid |
| Block | s-block | — |
| Group | 1 | — |
| Period | 2 | — |
The family it belongs to
The whole alkali metal family shares one seating area of the table, and every member's family ID card is one click away — compare Lithium with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.
Students also ask
Is Lithium a good conductor of electricity?
Yes — like other metals, Lithium conducts electricity and heat well, thanks to its sea of free electrons.
Can a gas be a metal — like Lithium?
Yes — being a metal or nonmetal is about bonding and electron behaviour, not state. At room temperature Lithium is a solid, and that says nothing against its metallic character.