Volatilities of metals and nonmetals

The volatility of a substance is the ease with which the substance is vaporized. It is eonveniently measured by the temperature at whieh the substance boils or sublimes at atmospheric pressure. 

A broad generalization eoneeming the relative volatilities of metals and nonmetals is the following  

Metals are generally involatile, i.e. they have boiling points in excess of 500 C. Only mercury has a boiling point below 500 C, this being at 357 C. Most metals have their boiling point somewhere between 1000 °C and 4000 °C. The highest value is for tungsten, at 5660 C. 

Nonmetals vary from being very volatile to very involatile. All the definite nonmetals listed above have boiling points below 500 °C, and most are gases at room temperature. The least volatile is sulfur, boiling at 445 °C. If, however, we include carbon among the nonmetals, as surely we should, this lies at the opposite extreme of volatility, boiling at 4830 °C. 

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