{"id":73,"date":"2015-10-21T13:59:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T12:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/?page_id=73"},"modified":"2025-09-13T13:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:19:10","slug":"boron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/","title":{"rendered":"Boron – Metalloid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Basic Information<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Discovery of Boron <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Sources of Boron <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Uses of Boron <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Boron In The Diet <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Use in the Nuclear Industry <\/a><\/p>\n

Use In Glass <\/a><\/p>\n

Boron\u2019s Cell Structure<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Absorption Lines <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Emission Lines <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Boron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\"Boron\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Boron\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Classification: Metalloid<\/span><\/p>\n

Atomic Mass: 10.811 (7) g\/mol <\/span><\/p>\n

Density: 2.34g\/cm3<\/span><\/p>\n

Colour: black<\/span><\/p>\n

Boiling Point: 4200K\u00a0(3927\u00b0C)<\/span><\/p>\n

Melting Point: 2349K (2076\u00b0C)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>Discovery of Boron<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Boron (5<\/sub>B) compounds were used by ancient civilizations for thousands of years but the element itself wasn’t isolated until 1828. English Chemist Sir Humphrey Davy (whose assistant was Michael Faraday) originally used electrolysis to create 5<\/sub>B from a borates solution and named the substance boracium. Later he used boric acid combined with potassium to produce a purer form of 5<\/sub>B. This method was used by French chemists Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jaques Th\u00e9nard<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>Sources<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Commercially 5<\/sub>B is obtained by heating borax (Na2B4O7 10H2O) with carbon. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Uses<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

<\/a><\/span>Boron can be taken as a dietary supplement and found naturally in various foods. Some evidence has shown that boron in your diet can help reduce bone loss, reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis, improve cognative ability and cordination in older people and increase testosterone levels. There is not yet enough evidence to prove conclusively that this is the case. 5<\/sub>B is found naturally in fruits (such as raisins, avacado, prunes, apricots) beans and nuts (particularly brazil, hazil and cashew) or taken in supplements though anymore than 20mg a day is considered dangerous and believed to reduce an adult males ability to father a child. 5<\/sub>B was also used as a preservative during World War I and II. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Boron<\/p>\n

When ignited boron produces a green flame which is used in flares and pyrotechnics like fireworks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>An isotope of 5<\/sub>B (boron-10) is good at absorbing neutrons making it ideal for applications in the nuclear industry. It is used in control rods of nuclear reactors and in neutron detectors. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Boric acid is the most common form of Borate and used in capsule form to treat yeast infections. It can also be applied to skin as an astringent or to prevent infection and sometimes used as an ingredient in eye wash.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Boron<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>Fiberglass insulation is made from a compound of 5<\/sub>B called sodium tetraborate decahydrate and some glasses are also made from a boron compound<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

5<\/sub>B is also used in Sodium perborate a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and sodium borate that is soluble in water and releases hydrogen peroxide. Sodium perborate is used as a bleaching agent in industrial detergents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>Shell Structure<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\"Boron.gif\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p”>\u00a0\n

Protons = 5 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neutrons = 6 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Electrons= 5 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

p<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

f<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n
\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Absorption Lines<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\"Borom<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Emission Lines<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

\"Boron<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_edit_last":["1"],"_edit_lock":["1707149626:1"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"ttr_page_title_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_page_foot_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_header_size_select":["None"],"ttr_background_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_change_header_image_text":[""],"ttr_background_size_select":["None"],"ttr_header_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_custom_style_text":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["Boron"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Boron"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["26"],"ampforwp-amp-on-off":["default"],"_thumbnail_id":["5875"],"_et_pb_use_builder":[""],"_et_pb_old_content":[""],"_et_gb_content_width":[""],"ast-featured-img":["disabled"],"theme-transparent-header-meta":[""],"adv-header-id-meta":[""],"stick-header-meta":[""],"footnotes":[""],"_links_to":[""],"_links_to_target":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["1"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"rank_math_primary_category":["1"],"rank_math_description":["Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals."],"rank_math_focus_keyword":["Boron"],"rank_math_news_sitemap_robots":["index"],"rank_math_robots":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"index\";}"],"rank_math_seo_score":["71"],"_wds_opengraph":["a:3:{s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:11:\"description\";s:0:\"\";s:6:\"images\";a:1:{i:0;s:0:\"\";}}"],"_wds_twitter":["a:3:{s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:11:\"description\";s:0:\"\";s:6:\"images\";a:1:{i:0;s:0:\"\";}}"],"_wds_focus-keywords":["Boron"],"_wds_title":[""],"_wds_metadesc":["Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals."],"_wds_meta-robots-adv":[""],"_wds_meta-robots-nofollow":[""],"_wds_canonical":[""],"_et_dynamic_cached_shortcodes":["a:0:{}"],"_et_dynamic_cached_attributes":["a:0:{}"]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-generalknowledge"],"yoast_head":"\nBoron - Metalloid - Earth Site Education<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boron - Metalloid - Earth Site Education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Earth Site Education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Earth-Site-Education\/61556359432402\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-21T12:59:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T12:19:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Keir Chapman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Keir Chapman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boron - Metalloid - Earth Site Education","description":"Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boron - Metalloid - Earth Site Education","og_description":"Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/","og_site_name":"Earth Site Education","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Earth-Site-Education\/61556359432402\/","article_published_time":"2015-10-21T12:59:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-13T12:19:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Keir Chapman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Keir Chapman","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/"},"author":{"name":"Keir Chapman","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#\/schema\/person\/f028ca91f88fe2e9e578f24056a12819"},"headline":"Boron – Metalloid","datePublished":"2015-10-21T12:59:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T12:19:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/"},"wordCount":450,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg","articleSection":["General Knowledge"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/","url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/","name":"Boron - Metalloid - Earth Site Education","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-21T12:59:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T12:19:10+00:00","description":"Boron is a relatively rare metalloid both on earth and in the rest Universe. It is produced from cosmic rays and extracted from Borate minerals.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Boron.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"A stylised diagram of a boron atom features labelled electrons, protons, and orbitals. Colourful spheres represent boron's atomic particles, with hand-drawn labels identifying components and electron paths on a light background."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/boron\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Boron – Metalloid"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/","name":"Earth Site Education","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#organization","name":"Earth Site Education","url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/LogoYouTube.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/LogoYouTube.png","width":800,"height":800,"caption":"Earth Site Education"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Earth-Site-Education\/61556359432402\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/#\/schema\/person\/f028ca91f88fe2e9e578f24056a12819","name":"Keir Chapman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93795f5d72a690673db58fc60779e6bb369542d93350bb5432476175ff04c468?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93795f5d72a690673db58fc60779e6bb369542d93350bb5432476175ff04c468?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93795f5d72a690673db58fc60779e6bb369542d93350bb5432476175ff04c468?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Keir Chapman"},"url":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/author\/keirearthsiteadmin-7\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23563,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/23563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}