Why does the amount of protons in an element wildly change its properties? For example: why is two protons a gas, but suddenly three protons is a metallic solid?
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Protons *indirectly* affect the chemical properties of an element. How is this done? Because they attract electrons differently. The vertical alignment of the periodic table is laid out in such a way as to align elements such that other elements with similar electron behavior.
This is why, for example, scientists have posited the possibility of silicon-based lifeforms. Silicon is directly below Carbon on the periodic table, which means its electron shell behavior is very similar to that of carbon. That, in turn, means it can form similarly structured chemicals with similar properties. Of course, these properties aren’t 100% analogous, for example, Si02 is considerably divergent from C02. One is a gas at room temperature, one is a powder, but both Si02 and C02 form linear molecules with oxygen on the outsides.
The reason you see these similarities is due to a property of electrons called [valence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_electron). What valence is, at its most simple to describe level, is the interactive property of an element’s electron cloud which causes it to tend to form certain types of bonds (or not form them) with other atoms’ electron clouds. This all has to do with the fact that, at low energies, electrons want to form stable structures.
Elements whose electrons naturally have sufficient electrons to be stable without interacting with another atom are on the far right of the period table, and are sometimes referred to as ‘noble gasses’, alluding to their dis-inclionation to mix with other elements to form compounds. Elements on the far left side of the table tend to be highly reactive, meaning they’re almost never found in elemental form in nature.
So, in respect to this question:
>why is two protons a gas, but suddenly three protons is a metallic solid?
In this case, helium is a noble gas, its valence shell is very stable, and it’s also very light. Lithium, by comparison, is very unstable and reactive, such that even when it’s isolated from other elements it can react with, it will form metallic bonds with *itself*. In effect, that loose electron is hugging tight to other loose lithium electrons trying to achieve that coveted equilibrium. But, again, because lithium is *so* reactive, the moment you expose it to open air, it will spontaneously react oxygen, or nitrogen, or hydrogen, or carbon dioxide. Because lithium loves you, and wants to stop being elemental lithium, *really badly*.
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