Silicone Vs. Silicon: The Material, Elemental Differences

The words silicon and silicone are often confused with each other because they look so similar and both refer to materials that are commonly used to make a wide variety of things. 

In this article, we explain what silicon and silicone are, detail the differences between them, and give examples of products they are used to make. 

silicone vs. silicon

Silicon is a nonmetallic element with atomic number 14. Because it is an element, silicon cannot be chemically broken down into any smaller mass. Silicon works very well as a semiconductor of electricity, and things made out of it tend to be light and flexible. For these reasons, silicon is commonly used as a material in many electronics, such as microchips and circuit boards. Silicon’s value in the tech industry is what led to the technology-focused region of Northern California being informally called Silicon Valley. 

The term silicone is used generally to refer to a large number of synthetic materials. Unlike the element silicon, silicones are polymers, which means they are made out of different elements linked together. Silicones tend to be very durable. They are resistant to breaking down from water, oxidation, or extreme temperatures. Like plastics and rubbers, silicones are used to make a wide variety of products, such as adhesives, insulation, lubricants, and kitchen utensils, as well as being used in cosmetic surgery. As with plastics and rubbers, we often say that something is made “out of silicone” rather than naming the specific silicone that is used.  

The words silicon and silicone are so similar because silicone was named after silicon. The word silicone combines silicon with the suffix -one, which is used in the names of ketones and similar chemical compounds. Silicones are chemical compounds made of large chains of silicon, oxygen, and other elements.