Germanium looks like a metal. But it is brittle and breaks apart rather easily, which metals normally do not do. It has a melting point of 937.4°C (1,719°F) and a boiling point of 2,830°C (5,130°F).

Similar to silicon and aluminium, naturally-occurring germanium compounds tend to be insoluble in water and thus have little oral toxicity. However, synthetic soluble germanium salts are nephrotoxic, and synthetic chemically reactive germanium compounds with halogens and hydrogen are irritants and toxins.

Germanium is widely distributed in nature but is too reactive to occur free.

Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and atomic number 32. Classified as a metalloid, Germanium is a solid at room temperature.

There have been claims that germanium may be beneficial for health, including improving the immune system, oxygen supply in the body, and destroying free radicals. According to Healthline, germanium has also been considered to be beneficial in treating allergies, asthma, arthritis, HIV/AIDS and various forms of cancer.

Germanium is a naturally occurring element. Trace amounts can be found in foods such as shiitake mushrooms, garlic, tuna, and tomato juice.

Pure silicon and germanium are poor conductors of electricity because their outer electrons are tied up in the covalent bonds of the diamondlike framework. They are not conductors in the metallic sense of the word, but are semiconductors.

Natural abundance They are found in small quantities as the minerals germanite and argyrodite. Germanium minerals are also present in zinc ores, and commercial production of germanium is carried out by processing zinc smelter flue dust. It can also be recovered from the by-products of combustion of certain coals.

Some heavy metals are either essential nutrients (typically iron, cobalt, and zinc), or relatively harmless (such as ruthenium, silver, and indium), but can be toxic in larger amounts or certain forms….Germanium †

Germanium is a better conductor(although it is a semiconductor), whereas Silicone is a better semiconductor. Both Ge and Si are tetravalent elements i.e. 4 valence electrons in the outer most orbit.

Germanium atoms have one more shell than silicon atoms, but what makes for the interesting semiconductor properties is the fact that both have four electrons in the valence shell. As a consequence, both materials readily constitute themselves as crystal lattices. Substituted atoms alter the electrical properties.

Silicon and germanium have four valence electrons but at the given temperature germanium will have more free electrons and higher conductivity than silicon. Silicon is more widely used in the electronic device than germanium since it can be used at a higher temperature.

Silicon is a very common element — for example, it is the main element in sand and quartz. In a silicon lattice, all silicon atoms bond perfectly to four neighbors, leaving no free electrons to conduct electric current. This makes a silicon crystal an insulator rather than a conductor.

Diamond normally has a very wide bandgap of 5.6 electron volts, meaning that it is a strong electrical insulator that electrons do not move through readily.