What is silica, please? What is there in life that is made of it? Why do I see silicon dioxide in potato chips?
Silica is an oxide of silicon and also an anhydride of silicic acidNatural silica (higher purity) is quartz and crystalThere are many kinds of silica in life, which can be said to be everywhere, such as sand, glass, ceramics, cement, jade and so on
One thing to note is that silicon is the second largest element in the earth's crust after oxygen (in terms of mass fraction), but almost all of the silicon in the earth's crust is silicon dioxide and silicates
Carbon or carbon monoxide can be used to reduce silicon in silicon dioxide to elemental silicon. Elemental silicon, although metallic in appearance and metallic in nature, is more nonmetallic in chemical reactions and is therefore considered to be metalloid
