Question

Si and Ge are:

Answer 1

Metals, nonmetals, and metalloids are the three types of elements. Metals are good heat and electrical conductors, as well as being malleable and ductile. At normal temperature, the majority of the metals are solids with a characteristic silvery gleam (except for mercury, which is a liquid). Nonmetals are (typically) poor heat and electrical conductors and are not malleable or ductile; at room temperature, several of the elemental nonmetals are gases, while others are liquids, and still others are solids. The properties of metalloids are intermediate.

Complete step by step answer:
Si and Ge are considered as metalloids since they have the properties intermediate to metals and non-metals.
In solid state electronics, the intrinsic semiconductor, which serves as the starting point for production, can be either pure silicon or germanium. Each has four valence electrons, but germanium has more free electrons and a better conductivity at a given temperature. Silicon is the most extensively used semiconductor in electronics, mainly due to its ability to withstand significantly greater temperatures than germanium.
Silicon and germanium are useful in this application because they have four valence electrons in their outermost shell, allowing them to gain and lose electrons at the same time.

Note:
Metalloids have the appearance of metals but behave more like nonmetals. They have the electronic band structure of a semimetal or semiconductor and are shiny, brittle solids with intermediate to good electrical conductivity. They are generally (weak) nonmetals with intermediate ionisation energies and electronegativity values, as well as amphoteric or weakly acidic oxides. They can combine metals to make alloys. In nature, the majority of their other physical and chemical qualities are intermediate.