Name       : Boron
Symbol     : B
Atomic #   : 5
Atom weight: 10.81
Melting P. : 2079
Boiling P. : 2550
Oxidation  : +3
Pronounced : BO-ron
From       : Arabic and Persian words for borax
Identified : Compounds known in ancient times
Appearance : Hard, brittle, lustrous black semimetal
Note       : Combine with sodium, hydrogen, and water to from borax

[Properties]

  Boron is generally described as a shiny black, extremely hard crystal.
In this purified form, it is nearly as hard as diamond, but it is too
brittle to be useful as an industrial cutting material.
  Boron heads the list of Group IIIA elements.  It is a semimetal, or
metalloid.  In many ways it resembles a common metal such as aluminum,
but in other ways it behaves as a nontor, thus showing a characteristic
of a metal.  At room temperature and below, however, it behaves as an
electrical insulator.
  An amorphous form of boron is a dark brown powder.