... a ? plus Li7 produces ionisation which is then detected. Boron is also used in reactor control rods. This is a nuclear property of boron, and has nothing at all to do with its chemistry. The atomic weight of boron is 10.81. Boron is found in a variety of similar minerals all related to borax, sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7·10H2O. It is a relatively rare element in the earth's crust, representing only 0.001%. In the United States, borax is found in large amounts in California, in Searles Lake brines and in the Mojave Desert. The natural deposits are dried-up lakebeds. Molten borax reacts with metal oxides to form borates that dissolve in the melt, so it is a useful as a welding and soldering flux, and in colored enamels for iron. In fact, this was the earliest use of borax, as a pottery glaze. This same property is used for borax bead tests ...

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