working to make science better For the 118 indvidual WIS elements, GO to MORE in the menu above . . .
Boron B
Where is boron used--or where does it impact our everyday lives?
Boron Symbol: B
Atomic number: 5 Atomic Mass: 10.81
Group number: (region): 13 period 2
Melting point: 3,769 oC (2,076 oF)
Boiling point: 3,927 oC ( 7,101 oF)
Reaction with air: Boron burns in oxygen to form boron trioxide.
Boron doesn’t react with water
Electron configuration [He] 2s2 2p1 2,3
Source: LANL.gov
Researcher: Siham A
Boron, B, found in Datolite, CaBSiO4(OH) from Great Notch, New Jersey, USA on display at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, viewed during a WIS Chemistry One field trip.
Abundance of boron in Earth's crust = 0.00086%
Photographer: Ela K.
The sample of boron below was made by seniors in the class of 2015 Gabriella P, Rumya R, and Vishal R from boric acid from a reaction involving a boron version of the thermite reaction
VIDEO of the lab extracting boron from boric acid in the WIS lab
Boron is a component of borosilicate glass--heat reistant glass as used in glass cookware, The borosilicate glass is also used in quartz halogen and mercury vapor lamp bulbs which need temperature resistant glass.
WIS photographer
Heat resistant glass has ~10% boron oxide, B2O3, added to ~80% silicon doixide, SiO2, with small amounts of aluminum oxide, Al2O3, calcium oxide, CaO, potassium oxide, K2O, sodium oxide, Na2O, and barium oxide, BaO.
To the left, the boron ore inderite MgB3O3(OH)5.5H2O from Boron, California, USA on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. viewed during a Chemistry One field trip.
WIS Photographer
To the right, another sample of a boron ore, kurkonovite, MgB3O3(OH)5.5H2O from the Boron open pit mine in Boron, California, USA on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. viewed during a Chemistry One field trip.
WIS Photographer
The skin of the horizontal stabilizer or tailplane of the F-14 Tomcat is made of a boron fiber epoxy. This F-14 is on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, USA and photographed by WIS teacher and Smithsonian volunteer Mrs. H :-)
The once shiny outer surface of the Space Shuttle Discovery tiles are made of borosilicate glass--like Pyrex ovenware--and made of a mixture of silicon dioxide, SiO2, and diboron trioxide, B2O3.
