Boron

Boron is a non-metallic element which occurs in several allotropes. It is rarely found in nature, normally occurring as borates or orthoboric acid. Hard yellow crystals or brown amorphous powder. Amorphous boron is the more common allotrope and exists as a dark powder which is unreactive towards water, oxygen, acids and alkalis. Boron finds importance within nuclear reactors due to its neutron absorbing capabilities, boron steel being used as control rod material. Boron compounds are used for a number of applications including the manufacture of certain grades of glass and detergents. Boron will react directly with most metals to produce metal borides which are hard, inert binary compounds of various formulae and arrangements of the boron atoms.

Symbol

B

Discovered

1808 by L.J. Lussac and L.J. Thenard (in Paris) and Sir Humphrey Davy (in London).

Abundance

10ppm in the earth’s crust. The principal ore is borax, Na₂ B₄ O₇ .xH₂ O

Click on an item to paste into clipboard or use clipboard symbol at end to clipboard all values

Atomic number	5		Clip
Atomic / Molecular Weight	10.811	gmol-1	Clip
Density	2466	kgm-3	Clip
Lattice constant	1017	fm	Clip
Melting Point	2403	K	Clip
Boiling Point	3973	K	Clip
Linear expansivity	0.0000047	K-1	Clip
Specific heat capacity	1030	Jkg-1K-1	Clip
Thermal conductivity	32	Wm-1K-1	Clip

paste all data into clipboard

See also: Boron Monoxide, Boron Nitride, Boron Suboxide, Boron Trioxide, Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis, Periodic Table, Zip Fuel.