Silicon

Silicon

Noun · /ˈsɪlɪkən/ · a chemical element, atomic number 14

Definition

Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle, dark grey metalloid — a material that sits between metals and non-metals in its electrical properties. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen, making up about 28 percent of it by mass. In its pure crystalline form it is a semiconductor, meaning it conducts electricity under some conditions but not others. This semiconductor property is the foundation of the entire modern electronics industry. Every transistor, every microchip, every processor in every computer and smartphone is built on silicon.

Origin

Silicon was named by the Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson in 1817, who derived it from the Latin silex, meaning flint or hard stone. The element had been identified earlier but Thomson formalised the English name, adding the -on suffix by analogy with boron and carbon. Silicon occurs naturally not in pure form but bound in silica — silicon dioxide — which is the main component of sand, quartz, and most rocks. The transformation of common beach sand into the ultra-pure silicon wafers that power modern computing is one of the most dramatic material transformations in industrial history.