Germanium
Element is used as a semiconductor in transistors and various other electronic devices. Some complex organic germium compounds are being investigated as possible pharmaceuticals, though none have yet proven successful. It ranks near fiftieth in relative abundance of the elements in the Earth’s crust.
About Germanium in brief
Germanium is a lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group. In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted its existence and some of its properties from its position on his periodic table. In 1886, Clemens Winkler found the new element along with silver and sulfur, in a rare mineral called argyrodite. Today, germanium is mined primarily from sphalerite, though it is also recovered commercially from silver, lead, and copper ores.Element is used as a semiconductor in transistors and various other electronic devices. Germanium is not thought to be an essential element for any living organism. Some complex organic germium compounds are being investigated as possible pharmaceuticals, though none have yet proven successful. The element forms a large number of organogermanium compounds, such as tetraethylgermanium, useful in organometallic chemistry. It is also used for polymerization catalysts and has most recently found use in the production of nanowires. In mid-1885, at a mine near Freiberg, Saxony, a new mineral was discovered because of its high silver content. It proved to be a combination of silver, sulfur, and a new element. Winkler was able to isolate the new Element in 1886 and found it similar to antimony. He initially considered the newelement to be eka-antimony, but was soon convinced that it was instead ekasilicon. He named the element germanIUM in honor of his homeland, Germany.
The first comparison of the physical data from those compounds—which corresponded with Mendeleeva’s predictions—made an important confirmation of the idea of the element’s existence. Here is a comparison between a comparison of germanee 4 and 4e 4 (the first organogmane 4), the first comparison between the element and its predicted element, and the atomic weight of 72 32 (72.32) The element is considered a technology-critical element and is used in fibre-optic systems, infrared optics, solar cell applications, and light-emitting diodes. It ranks near fiftieth in relative abundance of the elements in the Earth’s crust. It has an appearance similar to elemental silicon, like silicon, and naturally reacts and forms complexes with oxygen in nature. Like silicon and aluminium, naturally-occurring germaniam compounds tend to be insoluble in water and thus have little oral toxicity. The chemical properties of an element are similar to those of silicon. It can also form complexes with hydrogen and halogens and hydrogen, which are irritants and toxins. It was named neptunium, since the recent discovery of planet Neptune in 1846 had similarly been preceded by mathematical predictions of its existence. However, the name had already been given to another proposed chemical element. So instead, Winkler named the new elements germananium in honorof his homeland.
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This page is based on the article Germanium published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
