Silicon

Silicon is a hard, grey stuff. It is found in the Earth's crust. It is the second most common thing there.

It is also found in space dust.

Many things are made from it. It is used to make glass. People use it to make stone and concrete. It is even used to make beads.

Silicon helps make things work. It is used in solar cells. It helps make parts for computers. It is also in many smartphones.

Some tiny sea life use it. They make shells from it. Plants also use it to grow.

We live in the Silicon Age. This is because it helps our technology work so well.

Silicon is a hard and brittle solid. It has a blue-grey shine. It is a semiconductor. This means it can help carry electricity in special ways.

Silicon is very common. It is the eighth most common element in the universe. It is also the second most common thing in the Earth's crust.

Most of the crust is made of silicate minerals. These are parts of the Earth made of silicon and oxygen.

People use silicon for many things. It is used to make glass and ceramics. It is also used in concrete for roads and buildings. In nature, some tiny sea life like diatoms use silica to make shells.

Today, we live in the Silicon Age. This is because silicon is vital for modern technology. It is used to make transistors. These are tiny parts in computers and smartphones.

It is also used in solar cells to catch light. Silicon is great for this because it is cheap and works well.

Silicon is a very important chemical element. It is a hard and brittle solid. It has a blue-grey metallic shine. Scientists call it a semiconductor. This means it can carry electricity in special ways. It is a member of group 14 on the periodic table. Carbon is located just above it. Germanium and tin are located below it. Silicon is used in many electrical devices. These include solar cells and integrated circuits. It is a key part of our modern world.

Silicon works in many different ways. In nature, it often joins with oxygen. These combinations are called silicates. Most of the Earth's crust is made of these minerals. Silicon is the second most common element in the crust. It is only behind oxygen in amount.

In technology, it works as a semiconductor. This happens because of its excellent electronic properties. It is also very low in cost. This makes it a great choice for many tools. It is used to make transistors. These tiny parts help computers think and work.

People have used silicon for a very long time. Ancient Egyptians used silicon rock crystals for beads. They also made small vases from them. The ancient Chinese used these crystals too. Egyptians made glass with silica around 1500 BC. The Phoenicians also made glass this way. In 1787, Antoine Lavoisier suspected silica was an element. He thought it was a type of earth. Later, Sir Humphry Davy suggested the name "silicium" in 1808. He thought it might be a metal. Finally, Thomas Thomson gave it the name silicon in 1817. He thought it was a nonmetal like carbon.

Jöns Jakob Berzelius was the first to isolate pure silicon. He did this in 1823. He prepared it as a brown powder.

Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe. It is found in cosmic dust and planets. It has a very high melting point. This point is 1414 degrees Celsius. Its boiling point is even higher at 3265 degrees Celsius. These are the second highest points for nonmetals. Only boron has higher melting and boiling points. This makes silicon very stable under heat.

Silicon connects to many things you see every day. It is in the concrete used for roads. It is also in the mortar for buildings. You might find it in porcelain ceramics. It is even used to make glass for windows.

In biology, it helps some living things. Sea sponges and tiny organisms like diatoms use silica. They use it to build their skeletons. We call our current era the Silicon Age. This is because silicon powers our smartphones. It also powers the computers we use every day.

Silicon is a fundamental chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle, crystalline solid that displays a blue-grey metallic lustre. In the periodic table, silicon belongs to group 14, sitting directly below carbon and above germanium. It is classified as a tetravalent non-metal or a metalloid. Because it can act as a semiconductor, it is essential for modern electronics.

As a semiconductor, silicon possesses unique electronic properties that allow it to control electricity. This makes it the primary material for transistors, solar cells, and integrated circuits. Silicon is preferred for these applications because it is low in cost and highly adaptable. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the massive impact of silicon on the global economy led to this era being called the Silicon Age. This period is also known as the Digital Age or the Information Age.

Silicon interacts with the world in several distinct ways. In its pure form, it is relatively unreactive. However, it has a very high chemical affinity for oxygen. When silicon bonds with oxygen, it forms a family of anions known as silicates. These silicates are incredibly diverse and make up more than 90% of the Earth's crust. Silicon also forms the basis for synthetic polymers called silicones. Additionally, compounds like silicon carbide are used as high-strength ceramics and abrasives.

The history of silicon involves many famous scientists and long periods of discovery. Ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians and the Chinese, used silicon rock crystals for beads and vases. The Egyptians also manufactured glass containing silica around 1500 BC. In 1787, Antoine Lavoisier suspected silica was an oxide of a fundamental element. In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy proposed the name "silicium" because he believed it was a metal. Later, in 1817, Thomas Thomson changed the name to "silicon." He chose this because silicon resembles the nonmetals boron and carbon.

It was not until 1823 that Jöns Jakob Berzelius successfully prepared and characterized silicon in its pure form. He achieved this by reducing potassium fluorosilicate with molten potassium metal. He produced a brown powder through repeated washing. This was a major breakthrough because silicon's high affinity for oxygen made it very difficult to isolate. In 1854, Deville later prepared silicon in its more common crystalline form. This process involved passing silicon chloride vapors over pure aluminum to create hard, octahedral crystals.

Silicon is a massive presence in both the universe and our planet. It is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass. It is found widely in cosmic dust, planetoids, and planets as silica or silicates. On Earth, silicon is the second most abundant element in the crust, making up about 28% by mass. It is surpassed only by oxygen. Silicon is also remarkably stable at high temperatures. Its melting point is 1414 °C, and its boiling point is 3265 °C. These are the second highest points among all nonmetals and metalloids, trailing only boron.

Beyond industry, silicon plays a vital role in biology and construction. Many plant tissues contain deposited silica, which is essential for certain metabolic processes. In the ocean, microorganisms like diatoms and radiolaria, as well as some sea sponges, secrete silica to build skeletal structures.

In the built environment, silicon is everywhere. It is used in Portland cement for mortar and stucco. When mixed with sand and gravel, silicates create concrete for roads and foundations. It is also used to produce porcelain ceramics and various types of glass. The semiconductor industry itself is massive, with projections suggesting it will reach $726.73 billion by 2027.