My Science School

               Based on his periodic table, Dmitri Mendeleev, in 1869, had concluded that an element such as germanium really existed. It was, however, Clemens Winkler, a German chemist, who first isolated the element, and proved its existence in 1886. Winkler named the element in honour of his homeland Germany, and called it germanium.

               Germanium is a fairly rare element, and is found in the earth’s crust. It is shiny and silvery in its appearance. It is very hard and brittle. Although there are some minerals that contain a fair amount of germanium like germanite and argyrodite, they are too rare to be mined.

               The element is not a nutrient for organisms in nature. Therefore, its presence in the earth has no significance to plants and animals. However, sometimes germanium is used in medicines.

               Germanium is an important component in semiconductors and fibre optics. Germanium is mostly used in optical systems. Applications such as cameras, fibre optics, and microscopes need this element in their production. The element is also used in infrared optics. It is one of the few elements that expand and turn solid when they are frozen. The atomic number of germanium is 32, and the symbol is Ge.

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