Why is there more Silicium than Gold on Earth?
In: Chemistry
It is lighter. So there is much more of it in the universe and much more of it “floated” to the surface during the formation of earth.
Lighter elements occur at much higher rates because the form much more often in stars. Heavier elements require super massive stars and supernovas to form. So they form more rarely. The earth was formed from dust left over after the formation of the sun. That dust was formed inside other stars then ejected when those stars died. So that primordial dust contained much more silicon and other lighter elements than it did gold or even iron. Then once enough dust had accreted together to form the molten ball that would become earth, the heavier elements tended to sink and the lighter ones rose to the surface. So the crust is made up of these lighter elements. That’s why the heavier the element, the less common it is in the earths crust.
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