What is Silicon?
Silicon is an abundant nonmetallic element found throughout the universe. On Earth, silicon is the second most common element, exceeded only by oxygen. Silicon and various silicon compounds are used in a wide variety of industrial applications including metal alloys, circuits, soaps, and glass. Silicon is probably most well known for its use in computer chips, and lent its name to the Silicon Valley, seat of the technology industry in the United States. Silicon was first isolated in 1824 by a Swedish chemist named Jons Jacob Berzelius. In a pure form, silicon has a crystalline structure and takes the 14th place on the periodic table, where it is written as Si. Silicon appears more commonly in the form of a compound such as silica (SiO2), a mixture of silicon and oxygen that usually takes the form of sand. Silicon compounds can be treated to release the bound silicon, or used as they are to take advantage of the unique properties of the compound. Silicon carbide (SiC), for example, has
In nature, silicon and oxygen combine and form silica. During a heating process (high temperatures) with carbon silicon develops. Only by transforming silicon into a long chemical chain or polymer, the fluid, gel-like or rubber-like silicon we use is produced. Silicon is an element of many household articles such as sun tan lotion, soap or chewing gum.
