Tellurium is a silvery-white shiny solid. It has a density of 6.24 g/cm, is brittle, and is the softest of the commonly recognised metalloids, being marginally harder than sulfur. Large pieces of tellurium are stable in air. The finely powdered form is oxidized by air in the presence of moisture. Tellurium reacts with boiling water, or when freshly precipitated even at 50 °C, to give the dioxide and hydrogen: Te + 2 H 2 O → TeO 2 + 2 H 2. It reacts (to varying degrees) with nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids to give compounds such as the sulfoxide TeSO 3 or tellurous acid H 2 TeO 3, the basic nitrate (Te 2 O 4 H) (NO 3), or the oxide sulfate Te 2 O 3 (SO 4). It dissolves in boiling alkalis, to give the tellurite and telluride : 3 Te + 6 KOH = K 2 TeO 3 + 2 K 2 Te + 3 H 2 O, a reaction that proceeds or is reversible with increasing or decreasing temperature.