Silicon is a chemical element with symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a tetravalent metalloid, more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table. Controversy about silicon's character dates to its discovery.
Three reasons Silicon stands out
- 1
Primary component of computer chips.
- 2
It is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, after oxygen.
- 3
Ordinary beach sand is mostly made of its dioxide compound.
The crystal that learned to calculate
Silicon links the mineral world to digital technology. In rocks it usually appears bonded to oxygen; in a purified crystal, tiny additions of other elements precisely tune its electrical behavior. Billions of microscopic silicon switches can therefore be patterned onto a chip and coordinated into a computer.