Noble metal are covered by carbon monoxide very quickly. Metallic elements, including metalloids (metals usually considered noble bolded, predictions for superheavy elements italicised): The columns "group" and "period" denote its position in the periodic table, hence electronic configuration. The simplified "reaction"s, listed in the next column, can also be read in detail from the Pourbaix diagrams of the considered element in water. Finally the column "potential" indicates the electric potential of the element measured against a Standard hydrogen electrode. All missing elements in this table are either not metals or have a negative standard potential. Arsenic, antimony and tellurium are considered to
Germanium defense stockpile in 1987. Germanium differs from silicon in that the supply is limited by the availability of exploitable sources, while the supply of silicon is limited only by production capacity since silicon comes from ordinary sand and quartz. While silicon could be bought in 1998 for less than $10 per kg, the price of germanium was almost $800 per kg. Under standard conditions, germanium is a brittle, silvery-white, semi-metallic element. This form constitutes an allotrope known as "α-germanium", which has a metallic luster and a diamond cubic crystal structure, the same as diamond. At pressures above 120 kbar, it