Silicon
The semiconductor metalloid at the heart of electronics.
Inside the Silicon atom
Switch between Bohr and Quantum Cloud modes to compare a simple teaching model with a more realistic probability-based view, and follow the guided tour to explore the Silicon atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[Ne] 3s2 3p2
A neutral Silicon atom has 14 electrons (equal to its proton count). Choosing a different isotope above changes only the neutron count.
Shell distribution
Electrons fill inner shells before outer ones; the outermost (valence) shell drives the element's chemistry.
Physical & atomic properties
- State (room temp)
- Solid
- Melting point
- 1687 K (1414 °C)
- Boiling point
- 3538 K (3265 °C)
- Density
- 2.3296 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 1.9 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 110 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 786 kJ/mol
- Category
- Metalloids
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- 1824
- Discovered by
- Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- Origin of name
- Latin 'silex', meaning flint.
Notable uses
Computer chips, solar cells, glass, and ceramics.
Where Silicon comes from
Stellar fusion and dying stars
Made by oxygen burning in massive stars, with more created in the explosive burning of a supernova.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 14
- Atomic mass
- 28.085
- Category
- Metalloids
- Group · Period
- 14 · 3
- Block
- p-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 4