Silicon

Metalloid · atomic number 14

1428.085SiSiliconSolidMetalloid

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.

Properties of Silicon

Element category	Metalloid
Atomic number	14
Atomic mass	28.085 u
Phase at STP	Solid
Group	14
Period	3
Block	p
Electron configuration	[Ne] 3s2 3p2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 4
Electronegativity (Pauling)	1.9
Melting point	1687 K (1414 °C)
Boiling point	3538 K (3265 °C)
Density	2.329 g/cm3
Discovered by	Jöns Jacob Berzelius
Named by	Thomas Thomson (chemist)

← Aluminium · Periodic table · Phosphorus → P

About the metalloid group

In-between elements that behave as semiconductors: silicon, germanium and boron underpin electronics, glass and solar cells.

Data: Periodic-Table-JSON (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically on our server. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon

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⚛️ Full periodic table

All 118 chemical elements on one interactive, colour-coded table, each linking to a fact file and plain-language summary.

🧪 Reactive nonmetal

11 elements: Elements that readily gain or share electrons — the building blocks of water, air, living tissue and most organic chemistry.

🧪 Noble gas

6 elements: Full outer electron shells make these gases almost inert: they barely react, glow in discharge lamps and are used to create unreactive atmospheres.

🧪 Alkali metal

6 elements: Soft, wildly reactive metals of group 1 — they fizz in water and never occur pure in nature. Lithium, sodium, potassium and friends.

🧪 Alkaline earth metal

6 elements: Reactive group-2 metals a step calmer than the alkalis: magnesium, calcium and the structural and biological workhorses among them.

🧪 Transition metal

35 elements: The dense, strong, catalytic heart of the table — iron, copper, gold, titanium — responsible for most of metallurgy, jewellery and industry.

🧪 Post-transition metal

9 elements: Softer, lower-melting metals beside the transition block — aluminium, tin, lead — abundant in cans, foils, solders and pigments.

🧪 Metalloid

7 elements: In-between elements that behave as semiconductors: silicon, germanium and boron underpin electronics, glass and solar cells.

🧪 Lanthanide

15 elements: The rare-earth “inner transition” metals that give strong permanent magnets, screen phosphors and catalyst polish.

🧪 Actinide

15 elements: Mostly radioactive, heavy metals — several made only in reactors — whose fission powers nuclear energy and weapons.

🧪 Unknown properties

8 elements: Superheavy synthetic elements made atom-by-atom, existing for fractions of a second; their true chemistry is still unmeasured.