You know that excitement you get when you have a couple of cocktails and decide you want one of every element on the periodic table, and order some of the cool ones, then you forget, and then a few weeks later they start rocking up in your letterbox? Same. Here’s some gallium!
It’s melting point is about 30 degrees C, so it turns from liquid to solid in your hand! It’s used in a lot of electronics like LEDs and is probably what the Terminator is made of.
A few people freaked out when I showed them this video because they thought it was mercury. Mercury produces toxic vapours which can mess up your lungs, kidneys and nervous, digestive and immune systems, and may be fatal. Apparently in the olden days people loved cracking open their thermometers and playing with mercury, just like I am with gallium, until science let the people know they shouldn’t do that if they want to stay alive.
A lady at work asked me to bring the bottle into the office so she could “prod my gallium”. When she came by to have a go, the freezing air-conditioning meant the gallium wouldn’t melt as easily. Out of ideas, we decided I should probably sit on it for a while. So I found myself perched on some gallium for about an hour, like a nesting hen. For science. It worked.
In summary, gallium is my favourite element (for now), and not just because it lets you take the best selfies.
