* Sodium (Na) is a metal. It's a soft, silvery-white metal that's highly reactive.

* Chlorine (Cl) is a nonmetal. It's a greenish-yellow gas at room temperature and is also highly reactive.

It's important to remember that elements can exist in different forms. Sodium chloride (NaCl), the compound we know as table salt, is formed by the reaction of sodium and chlorine. Even though it's a combination of a metal and a nonmetal, the resulting compound is ionic and has very different properties than either of the original elements.