Is Selenium a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?
Selenium (Se) is a nonmetal — a nonmetal: a poor conductor, hungry for electrons, forming molecules or covalent networks rather than metallic crystals. It sits in group 16, period 4, and is a solid at room temperature.
This is the fast lane: one page, one fact, zero digressions. Read the quick answer, check the table, and if your exam needs the full derivation, the sections below walk through it step by step — in Bangla and English, like every page here. Need the whole picture instead — history, characteristics, uses, exam questions? The full Selenium page is one click away.
The one-line answer, with reasons
Selenium is a nonmetal. Chemists decide by behaviour, not appearance: metals (unlike Selenium) give up electrons, shine when freshly cut, and conduct heat and electricity; nonmetals take or share electrons and (as solids) break rather than bend. Selenium follows the nonmetal playbook — placed in the nonmetal family of the table.
Selenium's metal/nonmetal report card
| Property | Value | Typical of |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Nonmetal | — |
| Phase at room temp | solid | varies |
| Block | p-block | — |
| Group | 16 | — |
| Period | 4 | — |
The family it belongs to
The whole nonmetal family shares one seating area of the table, and every member's family ID card is one click away — compare Selenium with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.
Students also ask
Is Selenium a good conductor of electricity?
No — Selenium is a nonmetal and does not conduct the way metals do.
Can a gas be a nonmetal — like Selenium?
Yes — being a metal or nonmetal is about bonding and electron behaviour, not state. At room temperature Selenium is a solid, and that says nothing against its nonmetallic character.