Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: See more

Physical and atomic
A silicon atom has fourteen electrons. In the ground state, they are arranged in the electron … See more

Crystalline bulk silicon is rather inert, but becomes more reactive at high temperatures. Like its neighbour aluminium, silicon forms a thin, continuous surface layer of silicon dioxide (SiO 2) that protects the metal from oxidation. Thus silicon does not … See more

Compounds
Most silicon is used industrially without being purified, often with comparatively little processing from … See more

Owing to the abundance of silicon in the Earth's crust, natural silicon-based materials have been used for thousands of years. Silicon rock crystals were familiar to various See more

Silicon is the eighth most abundant element in the universe, coming after hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, and neon. These abundances are not … See more

Silicon of 96–99% purity is made by carbothermically reducing quartzite or sand with highly pure coke. The reduction is carried out in an electric arc furnace, with an excess of … See more