Skip to content
Material World

Germanium vs Silicon

Germanium and Silicon are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 2 measured properties, molar mass most clearly.

Germanium vs Silicon

Germanium

Ge

The semiconductor the transistor was invented in, then displaced by silicon.

Silicon

Si

The second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, and the substrate of essentially all modern electronics.

Property comparison of Germanium and Silicon
PropertyGermaniumSilicon
Atomic number32 higher14
Density

Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare.

Not known2.329 g/cm³
Melting point

Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare.

Not known1414 °C
Molar mass72.63 g/mol higher28.085 g/mol

Other comparisons