In article <001a01c208c9$0bb2a160$9140fea9@Sue>,
Bill Pearce <bspearce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'm not a metallurgist, I don't even play one on television, but here
> goes anyway. This will be broadly general, and generally broad, so if
> anyone knows more accurate details, jump in.
I'm not a metallurgist either, but someone once gave me a chemistry degree
(still not sure why) so I can fill in a few gaps.
> Silica and silicone are frequently used interchangably, but are really
> quite different.
And silocon - don't forget that, element number 14, same group as carbon.
> Silicone is a complex chemical, frequently used as a
> lubricant.
Silicones (plural) are a whole group of chemical compounds, characterised
by being built upon a chain of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms. Used
for all sorts of things, lubricants, elastomers (synthetic rubbers),
furniture polish, all kinds of damping fluids, insulators, and most
notoriously, breast implants.
> Silica is the main ingredient of sand.
Depends on what sort of rock it was ground from. Silica is silicon
dioxide, which exists in several natural crystalline forms, the most
common is, I believe, quartz - but I'm not a geologist either so I could
be wrong about that. AIUI, most of the world's sand is silicates, which
have more oxygen content and a metallic element of some sort.
--
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| / | |/-\ | Ian A. Nichols |
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