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silica vs. silicon

silica

[ sil-i-kuh ]
noun
  1. the dioxide form of silicon, SiO2, occurring especially as quartz sand, flint, and agate: used usually in the form of its prepared white powder chiefly in the manufacture of glass, water glass, ceramics, and abrasives.

silicon

[ sil-i-kuhn, -kon ]
noun
  1. a nonmetallic element, having amorphous and crystalline forms, occurring in a combined state in minerals and rocks and constituting more than one fourth of the earth's crust: used in steelmaking, alloys, etc. Symbol: Si; atomic weight: 28.086; atomic number: 14; specific gravity: 2.4 at 20°C.