Silicon Silicon Silicon is a chemical element with symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard and brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre; and it is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, and lead are below it. It is relatively unreactive. Because of its large chemical affinity for oxygen, it was not until 1823 that Jöns Jakob Berzelius was first able to prepare it and characterize it in pure form. Its melting and boiling points of 1414 °C and 3265
Period 5 element in nickel–cadmium batteries and cadmium telluride solar panels, the use of cadmium is generally decreasing. These declines have been due to competing technologies, cadmium's toxicity in certain forms and concentration and resulting regulations. Indium is a chemical element with the symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, very soft, malleable and easily fusible other metal is chemically similar to gallium and thallium, and shows the intermediate properties between these two. Indium was discovered in 1863 and named for the indigo blue line in its spectrum that was the first indication of its existence in zinc ores, as a new