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The second most abundant element on Earth is the nonmetal silicon, which makes up about 28 percent of the Earth's crust.
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SILICON. The second most abundant element on Earth is the nonmetal silicon, which makes up about 28 percent of the Earth's crust. It occurs only in such combined forms as silica (silicon dioxide) and silicate rocks and minerals. The most common form of silica is quartz, which includes sand and flint. Silicates are salts in which silica is combined with oxygen and other elements, such as aluminum, magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron, and potassium. Silicon has a strong affinity for oxygen. Pure silicon can be obtained by breaking down its combined form. It is prepared commercially by reducing (removing the oxygen from) the oxide by reaction with a carbon-based substance such as coke in electric furnaces. Some silicon is obtained by reducing silicon dioxide with aluminum. Amorphous silicon, prepared in the laboratory by heating silica with magnesium powder, is a dark-brown crystalline powder. Pure silicon is a hard, dark-gray...
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