Non-metals are elements that do not exhibit non-metallic characteristics. There are much fewer of them than metals. Their number is estimated at 18. Among them, however, there are elements without which it would not be possible to obtain metals, e.g. carbon or hydrogen. Coal, apart from being used as a reducing agent in the metallurgical industry, is a raw material for the production of cosmetics, plant protection products, fertilizers, explosives, medicines, fabric dyes, fragrances and even jewelry decorations. One of the allotropic varieties of carbon is diamond. Hydrogen is a raw material for the synthesis of ammonia, used in industry to produce artificial fertilizers. It is used as a cooling agent for freezing food products. In the food industry, it is also used in the production of margarine, and in the pharmaceutical industry - for the production of medicines. Fuel cells are becoming more and more popular, and liquid hydrogen itself is used as the propellant for space shuttles. The basic components of air are oxygen and nitrogen, without which we cannot imagine life on earth. Oxygen is also used in life-support devices, e.g. respirators, which was very important, especially during the pandemic. It is also used in hydrogen-oxygen and oxy-acetylene torches for metal cutting and welding. Oxygen is an oxidant used, among others, in rocket fuels. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the basic components of RNA and DNA acids and substances such as ATP, without which our body would not function. Phosphorus is widely used in industry: in artificial fertilizers, pesticides, in the electronics industry, in matches, smoke candles and fireworks, and in the pharmaceutical industry. Sulfur is a component of many chemical compounds, but especially important is sulfuric acid (VI), which is used as an intermediate in the production of inorganic and organic chemicals, in the production of artificial fertilizers, as an auxiliary substance in processing, a catalyst, a dehydrating agent, a pH regulator or an electrolyte. in car batteries. Selenium is used in photocells and photocopiers, and its compounds are used in photovoltaic cells. Halogens, i.e. fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, are used as disinfectants and oxidizing agents. Halogen compounds are popularly used in all areas of industry, e.g. chemical, pharmaceutical, electronics, metallurgical, with chlorine compounds and chlorine itself being the most widespread. And finally, six noble gases (helium, argon, neon, xenon, krypton, radon) are used in lighting technology, lasers, and as protective gases. These are just a few uses of non-metals.

The main assumption of the project was to develop, design and build a modern interactive teaching station for transmitting knowledge in the field of mineralogy, equipped with IT infrastructure. This stand, in addition to the advantages of direct contact between the student and the discussed mineralogical material, is equipped with modern IT tools that significantly enrich its functionality with augmented reality. The stand has the form of an exhibition case with individual non-metals and their minerals as exhibits.

Additionally on the websites:

for the Polish version: https://pblmetale.polsl.pl/pbl2023/main.html

for the English version: https://pblmetale.polsl.pl/pbl2023/main_eng.html

you can learn more about selected non-metals and their minerals.

This project was carried out as part of the PBL project "Interactive station for the identification of selected non-metals and their minerals in augmented reality"

The project was supported by students from the Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice (VSTE České Budějovice), Czech Republic, under the supervision of doc. Ing. Ladislava Sochy, MBA, Ph.D.