SILICON

HISTORY
Silica (SiO2) in the form of sharp flints
DISCOVERER FACTS/TRIVIA
Silicon makes up slightly more than
were among the first tools made by 27% of the Earth's crust.
humans. The ancient civilizations used Over 90% of the crust is made of
other forms of silica such as rock crystal, silicate-containing minerals and
and knew how to turn sand into glass.
compounds.
Considering silicon’s abundance, it is
Most of the silicon on Earth is found
somewhat surprising that it aroused little
curiosity among early chemists. in the form of silicon oxides like
Attempts to reduce silica to its sand and quartz.
components by electrolysis had failed. In Silicon is found in abundance in
1811, Joseph Gay Lussac and Louis many minerals.
Jacques Thénard reacted silicon It is vital for life in both plants and
tetrachloride with potassium metal and
animals.
produced some very impure form of
silicon. The credit for discovering silicon
really goes to the Swedish chemist Jöns
Jöns Jacob
Berzelius
Jacob Berzelius of Stockholm who, in
1824, obtained silicon by heating
potassium fluorosilicate with potassium.
The product was contaminated with
ELEMENTAL NUMBER
potassium silicide, but he removed this by
stirring it with water, with which it
reacts, and thereby obtained relatively
pure silicon powder.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
LIFE APPLICATION
Sand (silicon dioxide or silica) and
clay (aluminium silicate) are used to
make concrete and cement. Sand is
also the principal ingredient of glass,
which has thousands of uses. Silicon,
as silicate, is present in pottery,
enamels and high-temperature
ceramics.
Color-Pure silicon is a hard, dark gray
solid
Phase-Solid
Luster-A metallic shine or glow
*Allotropic-Silicon has two allotropic
forms, a brown amorphous form, and a
dark crystalline form
Solubility-Soluble in hydrofluoric acid
and alkalis
Melting point-Melts at 1417°C
Boiling point-Boils at 2600°C
Conductivity-It is a semi-conductor

ELEMENTAL DIAGRAM