Sil"i*con (?), n. [See Silica.]
(Chem.) A nonmetalic element analogous to carbon. It
always occurs combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the
free state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark
crystalline substance with a meetallic luster. Its oxide is silica, or
common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates, it is, next to
oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth's crust. Silicon is
characteristically the element of the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of
the organic world. Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also
silicium.
Sil"i*con (?), n. [See Silica.]
(Chem.) A nonmetalic element analogous to carbon. It
always occurs combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the
free state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark
crystalline substance with a meetallic luster. Its oxide is silica, or
common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates, it is, next to
oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth's crust. Silicon is
characteristically the element of the mineral kingdom, as carbon is of
the organic world. Symbol Si. Atomic weight 28. Called also
silicium.
