Several Gallium salts are used in medical treatments. Gallium is heavily used in the biomedical industry. Another application of the alloys of gallium is its usage to cool down machines and other electronic devices like the computer. This helps in making great mirrors.Īn alloy of gallium is also used to stabilise the plutonium used in nuclear devices. Gallium wets glasses and sticks to them easily. Some of the gallium alloys act as substitutes for toxic mercury alloys. Since Gallium is a liquid metal at room temperature, it is used just like Mercury used in medical thermometers. Gallium compounds are also used in laser devices. They are used in making integrated circuits and electronic chips. Pure gallium is used in the semiconductor industry. It is relatively stable in water and air, but Gallium reacts with alkaline as well as acid. Out of the four non-radioactive metals that are in their liquid forms in room temperature (Mercury, Caesium, and Rubidium), gallium is the only element which is not highly reactive like Caesium and Rubidium or highly toxic like Mercury. It is not highly reactive like alkali metals. Gallium is a fairly reactive chemical element. There also exists some radioactive isotopes (isotopes that emit radioactive radiations) of Gallium like the most famous one- Gallium 67.įrom the above information, we can deduce that the physical properties of Gallium are highly dependent on the temperature factor. The former one is most abundant and makes for most of its natural presence. Out of these, only two are stable- Gallium 69 and Gallium 71. Gallium has as many as 25 known isotopes. Isotopes are chemically similar, but there exist physical differences. The difference is caused due to the presence of more neutrons. In an amazingly simple way, isotopes are atoms with the same atomic but different atomic mass. It is the only element to have such a great ratio between its melting and boiling point. The boiling point for Gallium stands at approximately 2200 degrees Celsius, and its density is 5.907 grams per cubic centimetre which is high like the density of water. One famous gallium alloy is called the Galinstan that consists of gallium, tin and indium. It can easily diffuse in the metal boundaries of Zinc, aluminium and steel. Gallium also has alloying properties that make it easy to alloy with metals like Aluminum and Zinc. Gallium does not crystallise easily either. It can supercool itself without becoming a solid and retaining its liquid-like structure. Since the melting point for Gallium is around 29 degrees Celsius, it is probable that it will start to become a solid below 29 degrees. Supercooling is a chemical phenomenon where a substance can cool without solidifying itself below its freezing point. Gallium sticks to glass or porcelain very easily.Īnother interesting feature of the Ga element is that it can supercool. It is one of the four non-radioactive chemical elements (Mercury, rubidium, and caesium) that are liquid at room temperature. Therefore, if your body temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius, a part of it can easily melt in your hands. Its melting point is at around 29 degrees Celsius, which is pretty low. It is hugely different and therefore, not very metal-like. It has to be extracted through smelting or other means. The elemental or natural form of gallium is not found in nature. Pure gallium has a silver-blue kind of colour. Gallium is a soft metal with a very shiny surface. He assigned the name “gallium” to give tribute to France’s old name-Gallia. Later he was able to produce a good amount of pure gallium. To his surprise and luck, the metal he was searching for was found in the ore but in traces. He decided to study the spectra (distinct lines produced by chemical elements when heated) that the ore produced. Since Zinc had an atomic number 30, Paul believed that Gallium could be found in Zinc’s Ore. Paul was determined to discover the element between Aluminum and Indium. The chemical element was soon found by a French chemist named Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in the 1870s. He even went a step ahead and predicted the characteristics of the to-be-found element and named the element “eka-aluminium”. On the basis of the elements on the side of the box for element number 31, Mendeleev was certain that element number 31 did exist but was just not found. The periodic table he set up had empty places in the table. The Gallium symbol is Ga.ĭmitri Mendeleev’s periodic law described how each chemical element was related to each other. Gallium is generally considered to be a soft metal at standard pressure and temperature. Gallium is a chemical element with an atomic mass of 69.72 g.mol -1.
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