Chemical Element: boron
(Arabic: boraq, and Persian, burah [borax]; BORax + carbON; nonmetal)
Chemical-Element Information
Symbol: BAtomic number: 5
Year discovered: 1808
Discovered by: Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850), French chemist and physicist; Louis-Jacques Thénard (1777-1857), French chemist; and Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), English chemist.
- Discovered in France and England. Boron compounds have been known for thousands of years, but the element was not isolated until 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy, Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac, and Louis Jaques Thénard.
- This was accomplished through the reaction of boric acid with potassium.
- It was originally called “boracium” by English chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, because it was drawn from boracic (boric) acid.
- Boron filaments are used with plastics or metals as reinforcements to form composites that are superior in strength and stiffness of either of the other materials in composite.
Name in other languages:
French: bore
German: Bor
Italian: boro
Spanish: boro
Information about other elements may be seen at this Chemical Elements List.
A special unit about words that include chemo-, chem- may be seen here.