It occurs in crystallized and amorphous form. In its amorphous form it looks like a brownish powder, it has a higher activity than the crystalline variant. Its appearance is octahedral with a grayish and blue tint with a metallic luster.
Electron configuration of silicon
With the Electron configuration of each element, it is possible to define the way in which the electrons are structured in the atoms that an element has, in this case silicon. The Bohr radius or atomic radius is 111 pm, the mean radius is 111 pm, the Van der Waals radius is 210 cm and its covalent radius is 111 pm.
Silicon has a total of 14 electrons, its distribution is as follows: the first layer has 2 electrons, in the second there are 8 and the third consists of 4 electrons.
Properties of silicon
The properties of silicon are intermediate between those of germanium and those of carbon. In its crystalline aspect, it has little solubility, much hardness, a grayish tint and a metallic luster. It is a relatively inert element, it can resist the action of almost all acids, it reacts with dilute alkalis and with halogens. Silicon can transmit more than 95% of the wavelengths of infrared radiation.
Silicon is prepared as yellow-brown powder or gray-black crystals. It is obtained by heating silicon dioxide or silica with a reducing agent, which can be magnesium or carbon inside an electric furnace. The hardness of crystalline silicon is 7, it can scratch glass. The melting point of silicon is 1411 degrees centigrade, its relative density is 2.33 (g/ml) and its boiling point is 2355 degrees centigrade. Its atomic mass is equal to 28.086 u.
Silicon is part of 28% of the earth’s crust, it is not found in a free state but in the form of complex silicates and silicon dioxide. Minerals composed of silicon make up about 40% of all common minerals, including 90% or more of the minerals that make up volcanic rocks. The mineral quartz along with the varieties chrysoprase, carnelian, flint, onyx and jasper as well as the minerals tridymite and cristobalite are the crystal forms that silicon has in nature.
Silicon dioxide is the main component of sand. Silicates, along with calcium, aluminum and magnesium, are the main constituents of soil, clay and rocks in the form of amphiboles, feldspars, micas, zeolites and pyroxenes. Also semi-precious stones such as garnet, olivine, topaz, zircon and tourmaline.
Uses of Silicon
Silicon is used in the settling of silicones, in alloys and in the technical ceramics industry. This material is a very abundant semiconductor, so it is used in the microElectrons and Electrons industry as a base material to create chips or wafers that are implanted in solar cells, transistors and a large variety of Electron circuits.
Silicon is an important element in many industries. Silicon dioxide is an important constituent of bricks and concrete, it is used in the production of Portland cement. Due to its semiconductor properties, it is also used in the manufacture of solar cells, transistors and all kinds of semiconductor devices.
