Actinide

Is Einsteinium a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?

Quick answer

Einsteinium (Es) 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 Einsteinium'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 Einsteinium page is one click away.

The one-line answer, with reasons

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

Einsteinium'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 Einsteinium with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.

Students also ask

Is Einsteinium a good conductor of electricity?

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

Can a gas be a metal — like Einsteinium?

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