Question

Is hydrogen placed above the alkali metals because it is a metal?

Answer 1

Hydrogen isn't a metal.

Explanation:

It is located in the alkali metals column of the periodic table but it is a gas in its elemental state; it is only there because of its singular electron and its atomic number of `1`.

Hydrogen typically wants a `+1` charge, but occasionally, if a cation is a strong Lewis Acid, hydrogen can interact with it, having a `-1` charge instead and possessing a lone pair of electrons. EX: `NaH`

The position is not necessarily fixed in periodic table, but it is placed in group 1 mainly due to its primary ionic charge of `+1`.

Hope I helped :)