Dividing line between metals and nonmetals

1	2	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
H								He
Li	Be		B	C	N	O	F	Ne
Na	Mg		Al	Si	P	S	Cl	Ar
K	Ca	Zn	Ga	Ge	As	Se	Br	Kr
Rb	Sr	Cd	In	Sn	Sb	Te	I	Xe
Cs	Ba	Hg	Tl	Pb	Bi	Po	At	Rn
Fr	Ra	Cn	Nh	Fl	Mc	Lv	Ts	Og

Condensed periodic table showing a typical metal–nonmetal dividing line. Elements commonly recognised as metalloids (boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium) and those inconsistently recognised as such (polonium and astatine) Metal-nonmetal dividing line (arbitrary): between Li and H, Be and B, Al and Si, Ge and As, Sb and Te, Po and At, Ts and Og

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The dividing line between metals and nonmetals can be found, in varying configurations, on some representations of the periodic table of the elements (see mini-example, right). Elements to the lower left of the line generally display increasing metallic behaviour; elements to the upper right display increasing nonmetallic behaviour. When presented as a regular stair-step, elements with the highest critical temperature for their groups (Li, Be, Al, Ge, Sb, Po) lie just below the line.^[1]

^ Horvath 1973, p. 336