How was germanium discovered?

Germanium was found relatively late because it rarely occurs in high concentrations in the Earth's crust. Its existence and properties were first predicted in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev, who called it ekasilicon. Chemist Clemens Winkler actually discovered the element in 1886 while analyzing the mineral argyrodite, and named it after his home country, Germany.

What we know

• Germanium was found comparatively late in the discovery of the elements because it seldom appears in high concentration, ranking 50th in crustal abundance. [2]
• In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted the existence and properties of germanium based on its position on his periodic table, naming it ekasilicon. [2]
• Clemens Winkler found the new element on February 6, 1886, along with silver and sulfur, in the mineral argyrodite. [2]
• German chemist Clemens Winkler discovered the element germanium in 1886, which solidified Dmitri Mendeleev's theory of periodicity. [2, 4]

Where to go next

• whoWho was Dmitri Mendeleev?
• a case in pointWhat is argyrodite?
• how it workedHow does the periodic table predict unknown elements?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the chemical properties of germanium?
• compared withWhat are German inventions and discoveries?
• an unexpected connectionHow does germanium connect to the study of neutrinos?The isotope germanium-76 is used in specialized physics experiments to investigate the fundamental nature of neutrinos.

Sources

• [1]germanium (Wikidata Q867) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Germanium · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Isotopes of germanium · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Clemens Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]List of German inventions and discoveries · CC BY-SA 4.0