Decide whether the element is a metal or nonmetal, if you can. Element is a hard silvery-gray solid. Wires are fastened to each side of a 2 cm slab of it, and an ordinary household 9 V battery is hooked up so that it can feed electricity through the slab to an LED. But the LED stays dark

The element is a nonmetal

Explanation:

Elements are broadly classified into metals and non metals. Metals conduct electricity while non metals do not conduct electricity.

If we look at this scenario described in the question, we can easily decipher that the element is a nonmetal because the LED stays dark. The LED should have been lit if electricity was passed through the element in question.

Hence, the element is a non metal.