Name       : Germanium
Symbol     : Ge
Atomic #   : 32
Atom weight: 77.59
Melting P. : 937.4
Boiling P. : 2830
Oxidation  : +2, +4
Pronounced : jer-MAY-ni-em
From       : Latin Germania, "Germany"
Identified : Predicted by Mendeleyev in 1871
Appearance : Grayish-white metal
Note       : One of the first elements used in the manufacture of 
             electronic semiconductor devices

[Properties]

  Germanium is a semimetal, or metalloid. In other words, it is not a metal
such as aluminum, tin or lead; but neither is it a nonmetal such as 
phosphorus and sulfur. Like a few other elements in its general 
neightborhood on the periodic table of elements, germanium is like a metal
in some respects, but like a nonmetal in others.
  Pure germanium is usually described as a crystal that closely resembles
silicon - the world's most important semimetal. It even combines with
oxygen to produce germanium dioxide and the analogue of silicon dioxide
(which is ordinary beach sand).
  Germanium is a good semiconductor when combined with tiny amounts of
phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), gallium (Ga), and antimony (Sb). Notice that
these elements are all in the same general vicinity as germanium on the
periodic table.
