Germanium (Ge)
"The Night-Visionary, a hero who can see in the dark by being transparent to infrared light."
A memorable persona to anchor Ge in your mind.
5.323
Grams per cm³
938.25
Celsius (°C)
211
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Germanium is found in the lenses in night-vision goggles or thermal cameras.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1886
Discovered By
Clemens Winkler
Origin of Name
"The name is derived from the Latin name for Germany, ''Germania''."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
72.63 u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
2833°C
Electron Configuration
[Ar] 3d104s24p2
1st Ionization Energy
7.9 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Germanium is a hard, brittle, grayish-white, lustrous metalloid."
Did You Know?
Its existence, properties, and position in the periodic table were predicted in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev, who called it 'ekasilicon' before it was discovered in 1886.
Germanium is transparent to infrared radiation, which makes it essential for making wide-angle lenses and windows for night vision cameras and thermal imaging devices.
It was one of the earliest semiconductor materials used in transistors, before being largely replaced by silicon.
It expands as it freezes, which is a rare property for a metal.