Borax vs. Boron — What's the Difference?

A white crystalline mineral used in cleaning products.

Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5, found in nature primarily in compounds such as borax and boric acid.

An alkaline mineral salt with properties that make it useful for neutralizing acidic substances.

A neutron-absorbing element, making it useful in control rods in nuclear reactors.

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve in water.

Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder.

A naturally occurring substance used for pest control.

The chemical element (symbol B) with an atomic number of 5, which is a metalloid found in its pure form as a dark amorphous powder.

A hydrated sodium borate, Na2B4O7·10H2O, an ore of boron, that is used as a cleaning compound.

A single atom of this element.

A white or gray crystalline salt, with a slight alkaline taste, used as a flux, in soldering metals, making enamels, fixing colors on porcelain, and as a soap. It occurs native in certain mineral springs, and is made from the boric acid of hot springs in Tuscany. It was originally obtained from a lake in Thibet, and was sent to Europe under the name of tincal. Borax is a pyroborate or tetraborate of sodium, Na2B4O7.10H2O.

A nonmetallic element occurring abundantly in borax. It is reduced with difficulty to the free state, when it can be obtained in several different forms; viz., as a substance of a deep olive color, in a semimetallic form, and in colorless quadratic crystals similar to the diamond in hardness and other properties. It occurs in nature also in boracite, datolite, tourmaline, and some other minerals. Atomic number 5. Atomic weight 10.81. Symbol B.

A white compound which occurs as a mineral in some alkaline salt deposits and is used in making glass and ceramics, as a metallurgical flux, and as an antiseptic.

The chemical element of atomic number 5, a non-metallic solid.

Good-natured teasing or ridicule; banter.

A nonmetallic element that is amorphous and brown or crystalline and black, and is extracted chiefly from kernite and borax and used in flares, propellant mixtures, nuclear reactor control elements, abrasives, and hard metallic alloys. Atomic number 5; atomic weight 10.811; melting point 2,075°C; boiling point 4000°C; specific gravity (crystal) 2.34, (amorphous) 2.37; valence 3.

Cheap merchandise, especially tasteless furnishings.

A trivalent metalloid element; occurs both in a hard black crystal and in the form of a yellow or brown powder.

A white or gray/grey crystalline salt, with a slight alkaline taste, used as a flux, in soldering metals, making enamels, fixing colors on porcelain, and as a soap, etc.

Boron is a metalloid: a type of element that shares properties with both metals and nonmetals.

(chemistry) The sodium salt of boric acid, Na₂B₄O₇, either anhydrous or with 5 or 10 molecules of water of crystallization; sodium tetraborate.

Boron is a trace mineral necessary for the growth and health of the human body, though required only in minute amounts.

Cheap or tawdry furniture or other works of industrial design.

(transitive) To treat with borax.

An ore of boron consisting of hydrated sodium borate; used as a flux or cleansing agent.

A traditional ingredient in the creation of homemade slime.