is Mica an element?

Answer 1

No, it's not on the periodic table. Mica is a compound made of multiple elements.

Answer 2

The mica group of minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic with a tendency towards pseudo-hexagonal crystals and are similar in chemical composition. The highly perfect cleavage, which is the most prominent characteristic of mica, is explained by the hexagonal sheet-like arrangement of its atoms.

The word "mica" is thought to be derived from the Latin word micare, meaning to shine, in reference to the brilliant appearance of this mineral (especially when in small scales).

Mica is found abundantly throughout Asia, Africa, as well as North and South America. Until the 19th century, mica was quite rare and expensive as a result of the limited supply in Europe. However, its price dramatically dropped when large reserves were found and mined in Africa and South America after the early 19th century.

Mica has a high dielectric strength and excellent chemical stability, making it a favored material for manufacturing capacitors for radio frequency applications. It has also been used as an insulator in high voltage electrical equipment. It is also birefringent and is commonly used to make quarter and half wave plates. Because mica is resistant to heat it is used instead of glass in windows for stoves and kerosene heaters.

Answer 3

Nope. It's a mineral. Mica is made of silicate structures, which consist of both silicon and oxygen; as you know from chemistry, something is only an element if it consists of only one type of atom. Check out the three links in the source list for more information :-)

Answer 4

look on the periodic table and you will see NO mica on it. no, mica is a mineral and therefore only a compound, not an element.

Answer 5

Mica is a mineral

Answer 6

No it is not, like the prvious said, you can break mica down and find several elements.

Answer 7

No, it makes up Silicon though:)

Silicon is present in the sun and stars and is a principal component of a class of meteorites known as aerolites. Silicon makes up 25.7% of the earth's crust by weight, and is the second most abundant element, exceeded only by oxygen. It is found largely as silicon oxides such as sand (silica), quartz, rock crystal, amethyst, agate, flint, jasper and opal. Silicon is found also in minerals such as asbestos, feldspar, clay and mica.

Silicon is important in plant and animal life. Diatoms in both fresh and salt water extract silica from the water to use as a component of their cell walls. Silicon is an important ingredient in steel. Silicon carbide is one of the most important abrasives. Workers in environments where silicaceous dust is breathed may develop a serious lung disease known as silicosis.

Hydrolysis and condensation of substituted chlorosilanes can be used to produce a very great number of polymeric products, or silicones. These range from liquids to hard, glasslike solids with many useful properties.

Elemental silicon transmits more than 95% of all wavelengths of infrared and and has been used in lasers to produce coherent light at 456 nm.

Answer 8

mi·ca audio (mk) KEY

NOUN:

Any of a group of chemically and physically related aluminum silicate minerals, common in igneous and metamorphic rocks, characteristically splitting into flexible sheets used in insulation and electrical equipment.

ETYMOLOGY:
Latin mca, grain (perhaps influenced by micre, to flash)

OTHER FORMS:
mi·caceous (-kshs) KEY (Adjective)

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/mica

Answer 9

No. It is a compound.
On formula for mica is

K(Mg,Fe++)3AlSi3O10(F,OH)2

Answer 10

No, it's a compound of different types of minerals.