gallium (Ga), chemical element, metal of main Group 13 (IIIa, or boron group) of the periodic table. It liquefies just above room temperature.

Is gallium a metal on the periodic table?

Gallium is a post-transition metal. These are metallic elements located between the transition metals and the metalloids (non-metals) on the periodic table.

What is gallium element name?

Gallium--A smart metal

Gallium is a soft, silvery metallic element with an atomic number of 31 and the chemical symbol Ga. ... He named the element "gallia" after his native land of France (formerly Gaul; in Latin, Gallia).

What is the gallium element used for?

Most gallium is used in electronics. It's common in semiconductors, transistors, and very small electronic devices. Gallium is able to turn electricity into light, so it's also used to make LEDs. It can also be used to make thermometers and mirrors.

Can I eat gallium?

Although it is not harmful in small amounts, gallium should not be purposefully consumed in large doses. ... For example, acute exposure to gallium(III) chloride can cause throat irritation, difficulty breathing, chest pain, and its fumes can cause even very serious conditions such as pulmonary edema and partial paralysis.

Gallium (beating heart) - Periodic Table of Videos

Does gold react with gallium?

It is well known that gallium arsenide reacts readily with gold and gold-based alloys, the materials most com- monly used for solar-cell contacts. ... As stated previously, GaAs dissolves readily into gold and gold-based alloys.

Can you swim in gallium?

Gallium is liquid at body temperature, melting point 85.58°F (29.76°C). It is non-toxic, apparently. If the local temperature is above the melting point of gallium, one could certainly swim in it. Most of the body would be above the gallium level.

Where is gallium found on Earth?

Gallium usually cannot be found in nature. It exists in the earth's crust, where its abundance is about 16.9 ppm. It is extracted from bauxite and sometimes sphalerite. Gallium can also be found in coal, diaspore and germanite.

How can I get gallium?

No gallium is mined; it is obtained as a by-product of mining and processing other metals, notably aluminum, zinc and copper, and is produced in any nation that produces these metals.

Is gallium rare or common?

Unlike rare earths, gallium is not a common metal in the Earth's crust, but it does occur regularly alongside aluminum in a mineral known as bauxite. One of gallium's other claims to fame is that it has such a low melting point that it will melt if held in your hand.

What color is gallium?

Gallium is a soft, silvery-white metal, similar to aluminium. Gallium arsenide has a similar structure to silicon and is a useful silicon substitute for the electronics industry.

What happens if you swallow gallium?

That's because, in very small quantities, gallium isn't toxic at all. ... If you ate more gallium, it would react with your stomach acids. And this would produce gallium trichloride. This chemical compound is lethal to rats, and if you eat enough gallium, it would be lethal to you as well.

Is gallium a good conductor of electricity?

Gallium is less dense than copper or iron, but more dense than aluminium or magnesium, and similar to titanium. It is not unusual in that respect. Like all metals, it is a conductor of heat and electricity. It will alloy fairly well with a number of other metals.

What does gallium look like?

Gallium is silvery white and soft enough to be cut with a knife. It takes on a bluish tinge because of superficial oxidation. Unusual for its low melting point (about 30 °C [86 °F]), gallium also expands upon solidification and supercools readily, remaining a liquid at temperatures as low as 0 °C (32 °F).

Is liquid gallium toxic?

Gallium will melt in the palm of your hand, and you can actually do this. It is non-toxic.

What would happen if you jumped into a pool of mercury?

Over time, the symptoms of mercury poisoning would include speech difficulties, lack of coordination, and even vision loss. And if you didn't manage to get out of the pool, you would surely pass out and die from metal's fumes.

Can we walk on mercury?

However, the surface tension of mercury is only 7 times larger than the surface tension of water, so it seems unlikely that a human could walk or run on mercury without breaking the surface (unless it is possible to devise some snow-shoe like contraption to increase the lift provided by surface tension).

Is gallium safe to play with?

Gallium is a silvery metal and element number 31 on the Periodic Table, and it melts at 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a temperature low enough for gallium to melt in your hand — and unlike the liquid metal mercury, gallium is safe to play with, according to chemists.

Is gallium attracted to magnets?

Physicists have found that some liquid metals which appear to be non-magnetic -- such as mercury, aluminium, gallium and lead -- actually contain magnetic moments that appear and disappear on extremely short time scales.