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An iron gate left in the rain grows rust. A galvanised gate stays free of rust much longer. Galvanised means coated with zinc.

This track is Metals and Non-metals. It is Chapter 3 of your Class 10 Science book. One ordered list, the reactivity series, explains much of it.

What this track covers

• Two kinds of element: physical properties and the exceptions.
• What an oxide tells: acidic, basic, amphoteric and neutral oxides.
• With air, water and acid: how metals react.
• Who pushes whom out: displacement, one metal taking another's place.
• The reactivity series: the list that predicts.
• Compounds that carry charge: ionic compounds.
• Getting a metal out: extraction from ores.
• Rust and what stops it: corrosion and galvanising.
• Mixed on purpose: alloys.
• Purifying copper: electrolytic refining.

Quick catch-up

None of this is required. Read a line only if it feels shaky.

• Metals shine, ring and conduct.
• Atoms have shells of electrons.
• One element can take another's place.

One rule before anything else

Every lab here is a picture on a screen. Never try these reactions at home. Sodium reacts violently with water. Only a teacher may show it.