When you say “silicon”, he thinks you’re talking about “silicone” Whatever that is The man ain’t got no rockology
As I was thinking about writing this blog, a poem byAmerica’s greatest poet, Paul Simon, kept running through my head.
A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)
I been Norman Mailer'd, Maxwell Taylor'd I been John O'Hara'd, McNamara'd I been Rolling Stoned and Beatled till I'm blind I been Ayn Rand'd, nearly branded Communist, 'cause I'm left-handed That's the hand I use, well, never mind! I been Phil Spector'd, resurrected I been Lou Adler'd, Barry Sadler'd Well, I paid all the dues I want to pay And I learned the truth from Lenny Bruce And all my wealth won't buy me health So I smoke a pint of tea a day I knew a man, his brain was so small He couldn't think of nothing at all He's not the same as you and me He doesn't dig poetry. He's so unhip that When you say "Dylan", he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas Whoever he was The man ain't got no culture But it's all right, ma Everybody must get stoned I been Mick Jagger'd, silver daggered Andy Warhol, won't you please come home? I been mothered, fathered, aunt and uncled Been Roy Halee'd and Art Garfunkel'd I just discovered somebody's tapped my phone
My generation’s great music is still the best today. Check out Guardians of the Galaxy. Paul Simon's poem is a tour of my generation’s music, but I had to look up three names. Paul Simon wrote this euphonious dithyramb over fifty years ago, but this poem has it’s own Wikipedia entry.
You were just dying to learn all of this fascinating information, weren’t you?
Anyway … Moving on to silicone versus silicon.
If Gallup did a poll, I would be willing to bet a premium chunk of Utah Agatized Barite that more Americans would think of “silicone” if you asked them about “silicon”. Especially Americans of the masculine persuasion.
For your everlasting understanding, silicon is an element, number 14 in the periodic table, that is right up there with oxygen in it’s importance to the planet Earth. In fact …
More than 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust (about 28% by mass), after oxygen.
Wikipedia
In more familiar terms … look around you. Chances are that every rock you see is made of silicon. That’s especially true since the few rocks that are not silicon tend to be concentrated in strange places where you are likely to not be looking. Agate, jasper, sandstone, limestone, lodestone, and tombstones … all are mainly silicon. And in particular, silicon paired with that king of the periodic table, oxygen. Rockologists call this durable silicon dioxide compound “silica”. Next to dihydrogen monoxide, it's probably the most important chemical compound in the crust of the Earth.
Take “agate” as an example. Wikipedia lists the chemical formula as just SiO2 (silica) but notes that agate is another name for chalcedony which is also SiO2 (silica). They go on to say that chalcedony is quartz (SiO2 -- silica) and moganite (SiO2 -- silica).
Am I getting my idea across?
Here’s another example, the precious stone “jade”. This rock could be one of two different minerals: nephrite or jadeite. (See my blog, A Rock By Any Other Name.) But nephrite is:
Ca2(Mg,Fe)5Si8O22(OH)2.
Note the bold type. It's actually silica with some calcium, magnesium, and iron.
And jadeite is:
Na(Al,Fe³⁺)Si₂O₆ – Note the bold type. It's actually silica again with some sodium, aluminum and iron
Am I getting through now? Maybe we need a different song: Silica makes the world go round. Well … not actually … that’s “momentum”.
So … why are all these “silica” rocks so different? Wikipedia again:
Based on the crystal structural differences, silicon dioxide can be divided into two categories: crystalline and non-crystalline (amorphous). In the form of crystalline, this substance can be found naturally occurring as quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, stishovite, and coesite. On the other hand, amorphous silica can be found in nature as opal, infusorial earth and diatomaceous earth. Quartz glass is the form of intermediate state between this structure.
So, when us rockologists refer to something as a bee-you-tee-ful rock, we’re really just talking about how it’s put together, not what’s inside. Rockologists of the masculine persuasion tend to think of a lot of things this same way.
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