Physical properties are usually those that can be observed using our senses such as color, luster, freezing point, boiling point, melting point, density, hardness and odor. The Physical Properties of Silicon are as follows:
- Color : Pure silicon is a hard, dark gray solid
- Phase: Solid
- Luster: A metallic shine or glow
- *Allotropic: Silicon has two allotropic forms, a brown amorphous form, and a dark crystalline form
- Solubility: Soluble in hydrofluoric acid and alkalis
- Melting point: Melts at 1417°C
- Boiling point : Boils at 2600°C
- Conductivity : It is a semi-conductor
*Allotropic - Allotropes are forms of an element with different physical and chemical properties occurring in two or more crystalline forms in the same physical state.
Silicon Properties - What are the Chemical Properties of Silicon?
What are the Chemical Properties of Silicon? They are the characteristics that determine how it will react with other substances or change from one substance to another. The better we know the nature of the substance the better we are able to understand it. Chemical properties are only observable during a chemical reaction. Reactions to substances may be brought about by changes brought about by burning, rusting, heating, exploding, tarnishing etc. The Chemical Properties of Silicon are as follows:
- Chemical Formula : Si
- Compounds : Silicon forms compounds with metals (silicides) and with non-metals
- Oxidation : Combined with oxygen as silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) or with oxygen and metals as silicate minerals. It is stable in air even at elevated temperatures owing to the formation of a protective oxide film
- Flammability : Dark-brown crystals that burn in air when ignited : Is transparent to long-wavelength infra-red radiation
- Reactivity with acids : Dissolves only in a mixture of nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid
