Nonmetal inconsistently classified by different authors. Elements sometimes also classified as nonmetals are the metalloids boron (B), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), tellurium (Te), and astatine (At). The nonmetal selenium (Se) is sometimes instead classified as a metalloid, particularly in environmental chemistry. Nonmetals show more variability in their properties than do metals. These properties are largely determined by the interatomic bonding strengths and molecular structures of the nonmetals involved, both of which are subject to variation as the number of valence electrons in each nonmetal varies. Metals, in contrast, have more homogenous structures and their properties are more
Minor metals 40 percent of all production, but that China's share of global production increased 34 percent between 2000 and 2009. Minor metals are used in a wide diversity of end-use applications, from capacitors for consumer electronics (tantalum) and metallic cathodes for rechargeable batteries (cobalt) to photovoltaic solar cells (silicon) and semiconductor materials (gallium and indium).The primary end-uses of minor metals can also help to categorize the metals into four groups: Metals often classified as minor metals include: Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Beryllium (Be), Bismuth (Bi), Cadmium (Cd), Cerium (Ce), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Gadolinium (Gd), Gallium (Ga), Germanium (Ge), Hafnium (Hf),