How does the location of hydrogen on the periodic table differ from other nonmetals?

Answer 1

It's special, because it has only one electron, while the ideal "noble gas" configuration (helium) would call for two.

Therefore, it could either 'try' to gain an electron as would any element from the halogen group (F-Cl-Br...), or it could lose its one electron, in which case it would fall into the category of alkali metals (Li-Na-K...).

In practice, #H# mostly shares its electron, either by covalent bonds, or by donating an electron and working together with #H_2O# to form the #H_3O^+# or 'acid' ion.

In short, #H# is too special to to put it in a specific Group.

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Answer 2

Natalie Anton

Although it is classified as a nonmetal, hydrogen is different from other nonmetals because of its peculiarities and lack of definiteness in a particular group.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.