Silicon

What is silicon?
Silicon is the 14th element in the periodic table. It is the second most abundant element found next to oxygen, and makes up 27% of the Earth's crust. It is also the most useful element, as many things can be made from it. But more about that later. Right now you probably want to know what silicon looks like. Silicon's natural form is a brown or gray powder, depending on the type of silicon. Amorphous is brown, and crystalline is gray.

Where is silicon found?
As mentioned above, silicon makes up 27% of the Earth's crust. However, it can also be found in bones and plant ashes. Diatoms extract silicon from water to build their cell walls. While silicon is not found free in nature, it can be found inside of most gemstones and even sand. It is also found in the stars and the sun.

What is silicon used for?
Silicon is the most used element, and is very important in the lives of animals and plants. As I said above, Diatoms extract it for their cells. Silicon is a main component in making steel. It is also used to create lasers and wafers for computers. It comes in hard and liquid form, and when in liquid form can be used for an adhesive, a sealant, and an insulator. Sand and clays (hard form) are used to make building materials.

Silicon can be made by heating silica and carbon in an electric furnace using carbon electrodes. It can also be made into a mineral form, to be melted or vaporized. I hope everyone learned a lot about silicon. I know I did.

Maddie