So Beautiful Galium Flower

Gallium: The Strange, Shiny Metal That Melts in Your Hand
Gallium is one of those elements that fascinates both scientists and curious minds alike. Its unique properties make it a standout in the periodic table, and its uses—ranging from electronics to medicine—are as intriguing as the element itself.
Basic Facts About Gallium
Symbol: Ga
Atomic number: 31
Atomic mass: 69.723 u
Group: 13
Appearance: Silvery-blue metal
Melting point: 29.76 °C
Boiling point: 2403 °C
What makes Gallium so captivating is its low melting point. At just under 30°C, it can literally melt in your hand. But unlike mercury, it’s non-toxic in small amounts, making it a safer curiosity for demonstrations and experimentation.
Discovery and History
Gallium was discovered in 1875 by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran using spectroscopy. He named the element after “Gallia,” the Latin name for France. It was also a bit of a personal nod—“Lecoq” means “the rooster” in French, and “Gallus” is Latin for rooster. The discovery helped validate Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table predictions, as Gallium fit almost perfectly into the properties Mendeleev had forecast for an unknown element he called eka-aluminum.
Unique Properties
Melts in your hand: Because of its low melting point, Gallium is used in heat-sensitive applications and as a temperature reference.
Expands upon solidifying: Like water, Gallium expands as it freezes, which can break containers if not handled carefully.
Non-toxic alternative to mercury: Its similar appearance to mercury and lower health risks make it useful in some thermometers and barometers.
Supercooled liquid: Gallium can remain a liquid below its freezing point unless disturbed or seeded with a crystal—an example of supercooling.
Applications of Gallium
Electronics and Semiconductors
One of the most critical uses of Gallium is in electronics, particularly in the compound gallium arsenide. GaAs is a semiconductor used in:
High-speed integrated circuits
Solar cells
Light-emitting diodes
Microwave frequency ICs