Classes of metals Classes of metals Class A metals are metals that form hard acids. Hard acids are acids with relatively ionic bonds. These metals, such as iron, aluminium, titanium, sodium, calcium and the lanthanides, would rather bond with fluorine than iodine. They form stable products with hard bases, which are bases with ionic bonds. They target molecules such as phospholipids, nucleic acids and ATP. Class B metals are metals that form soft acids. Soft acids are acids with relatively covalent bonds. These metals, such as lead, gold, palladium, platinum, mercury and rhodium, would rather bond with iodine than fluorine. They form stable
Heavy metals metals in form or appearance"). This suggestion was ignored; the new elements came to be recognised as metals, and the term metalloid was then used to refer to nonmetallic elements and, later, elements that were hard to describe as either metals or nonmetals. An early use of the term "heavy metal" dates from 1817, when the German chemist Leopold Gmelin divided the elements into nonmetals, light metals, and heavy metals. Light metals had densities of 0.860–5.0 g/cm; heavy metals 5.308–22.000. The term later became associated with elements of high atomic weight or high atomic number. It is sometimes used interchangeably