how does the position of an element on the periodic table allow you to determine if the element is a metal?

Because the earth is not round ,but it may seem round when viewed from ,our planet but true some points earth is not round was an oblate spheroid -a square that it squashed as globe however is not even a perfect oblate spheroid.in fact isaac newton's first proposed that earth was not perfectly round but it was an oblate spheroid instead.that mean a square that is squashed as its poles and swollen at the