MINING DEP.

Silicon

Mourad Hosni

Mourad.Hosni@hotmail.com

3/30/2010
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Silicon is the second most common element in the Earth's crust, comprising
25.7% of the Earth’s crust by weight. It was discovered in 1824 by the
Swedish chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius.

General Properties
symbol, Si,
number 14
Standard atomic weight 28.0855(3) g·mol−1
Electron configuration [Ne] 3s2 3p2

Physical properties
Phase solid
Density 2.3290 g·cm−3
Melting point 1687 K, 1414 °C, 2577 °F
Color iron-black, dark silver-gray to bluish
brown
Luster metallic
Transparency Crystals are opaque
Cleavage absent
Fracture conchoidal
Specific Gravity 2.3
Streak black

Miscellanea
Crystal structure diamond cubic
Magnetic ordering diamagnetic
Electrical resistivity (20 °C) 103 Ω·m
Thermal conductivity (300 K) 149 W·m−1·K−1
Young's modulus 185 GPa
Shear modulus 52 GPa
Bulk modulus 100 GPa
Mohs hardness 7

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Silicon is rarely found in nature in its uncombined form. In fact it is amazing

how rare native silicon is with 25.7% of the Earth's crust being silicon.
Silicon, binds strongly with oxygen and is nearly always found as silicon
dioxide, SiO2 (quartz), or as a silicate (SiO4-4). Silicon has been found as a
native mineral only in volcanic exhalations and as tiny inclusions in gold.

Silicon also occurs as silicate minerals (various minerals containing silicon,

oxygen and one or another metal), for example the feldspar group. These
minerals occur in clay, sand and various types of rock such as granite and
sandstone. Feldspar, pyroxene, amphibole, and mica are a few of the
many common silicate mineral groups.

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Industrial Uses:
 It is the principal component of most semiconductor devices, most
importantly integrated circuits or microchips. Silicon is widely used in
semiconductors because it remains a semiconductor at higher
temperatures than the semiconductor germanium and because its
native oxide is easily grown in a furnace and forms a better
semiconductor/dielectric interface than any other material.

 In the form of silica and silicates, silicon forms useful glasses,

cements, and ceramics. It is also a constituent of silicones, a class-
name for various synthetic plastic substances made of silicon,
oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, often confused with silicon itself.

 Silicon is an essential element in biology, although only tiny traces of

it appear to be required by animals. It is much more important to the
metabolism of plants, particularly many grasses, and silicic acid (a
type of silica) forms the basis of the striking array of protective shells
of the microscopic diatoms.

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Occurences
1- United states:

 Eastern US: Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas,

Oklahoma, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Southern New
Jersey, Ohio, Alabama, and Maryland.

 Western US: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington,

Montana, and San Francisco.

 Middle US: Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, Ottawa, and Los

Angeles.

2- Canada:

 Eastern Canada: Ontario, and Quebec.

 Western Canada: Manitoba, Beausejour, and Pine River

District.

3- Mexico