Boron is a chemical element. It has the chemical symbol B. It has the atomic number 5. It is a metalloid (it has properties of a metal and a non-metal). Much boron is found in chemical compounds in its ore borax. Boron is never found free in nature.Duration: 20 seconds.0:20Electrofluorochromic Properties of Aza Boron dipyrrometheneTwo types of boron are found (allotropes). Amorphous boron is a brown powder and metallic (crystalline) boron is black and hard and a weak conductor at room temperature. Boron is the 5th element in the periodic table and is part of the Earth's surface. Pure boron is used as a dopant (a substance added to semiconductors to change how it behaves with electricity) in the semiconductor industry. Chemical compounds of boron are important as to make strong materials not weigh very much, as nontoxic insecticides and preservatives, and for chemical synthesis.Plants need boron in them to live. Very small amounts of boron are needed in animal's bodies so that they are very healthy. How it keeps animals healthy is not known in detail.Boron was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy, an English chemist, in 1808.Boron melts at 2075 °C (3767 °F), and boils at 4000 °C (7232 °F).
Boron isotopes are found in natural waters, with their isotopic composition influenced by environmental factors. The isotopic fractionation occurs during processes like mineral crystallization and chemical reactions in water.
Boron is synthesized entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovas and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, so it is a low-abundance element in the Solar System and in the Earth's crust.[14] It constitutes about 0.001 percent by weight of Earth's crust.[15] It is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds, the borate minerals. These are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals.Elemental boron is found in small amounts in meteoroids, but chemically uncombined boron is not otherwise found naturally on Earth.
