Element of the week: Boron

One of the shyer elements, boron does its job quietly and without fanfare

by GrrlScientist for The Guardian| @GrrlScientist

Borax crystals. (Public domain.)

This week’s element is boron. This rare element is a metalloid; which means that it can can act both as an acid and a base, and it also behaves as a semiconductor. Boron never occurs in a pure state in the wild, and can only be purified with difficulty by chemists. Boron is a poor conductor of electricity, and is fairly non-reactive, although it is water soluble. The most common uses for boron-containing compounds includes Borax, a bleach for clothing, a swimming pool disinfectant and green flames. One type of these boron-containing compounds, the boron nitrides, is notable because they can form a number of stable structures that resemble carbon-containing structures; graphite, diamond, and nanotubes.

You can visit PeriodicVideos’s YouTube channel.

Here’s another look at boron, just in case green flames weren’t impressive enough:

Visit the OULearn’s YouTube channel.

As a plant keeper, I’m glad boron is around, especially since it keeps my orchids happy. (Maybe one day, if you ask nicely, I’ll show you some photographs of my orchids’ blooms.)

Visit next week’s Element of the week: Carbon!

Or, to review, we’ve learned a little about these elements:

Beryllium: Be atomic number 4
Lithium: Li atomic number 3
Helium: He atomic number 2
Hydrogen: H atomic number 1

Originally published at The Guardian on 11 March 2011.