Welcome to Gaia! ::

[x] Lab Post
[x] Navigation
[x] Gally (the being)
[x] Gallium (the element)
[x] Guardians
[x] Home Life
[x] Belongings
[x] Other Mendels
[x] Post Guide
[x] Photo Album

Gallium (pronounced /ˈɡæliəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the Ga (III) salt, in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies slightly above room temperature, it will melt in the hand. Its melting point is used as a temperature reference point, and from its discovery in 1875 to the semiconductor era, its primary uses were in high-temperature thermometric applications and in preparation of metal alloys with unusual properties of stability, or ease of melting; some being liquid at room temperature or below. The alloy Galinstan (68.5% Ga, 21.5% In, 10% Sn) has a melting point of about 11 °C (51.8 °F).

In semiconductors, an important application is in the compounds gallium arsenide and gallium nitride, used most notably in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Semiconductor use is now the almost the entire (> 95%) world market for gallium, but new uses in alloys and fuel cells continue to be discovered.

Gallium is not known to be essential in biology, but because of the biological handling of gallium’s primary ionic salt Ga(III) as though it were iron(III), gallium ion localizes to and interacts with many processes in the body in which iron(III) is manipulated. As these processes include inflammation, which is present as a marker for many disease states, several gallium salts are used, or are in development, as both pharmaceuticals and radiopharmaceuticals in medicine.

NOTABLE CHARACTERISTICS

Elemental gallium is not found in nature, but it is easily obtained by smelting. Very pure gallium metal has a brilliant silvery color and its solid metal fractures conchoidally like glass. Gallium metal expands by 3.1 percent when it solidifies, and therefore storage in either glass or metal containers is avoided, due to the possibility of container rupture with freezing. Gallium shares the higher-density liquid state with only a few materials like silicon, germanium, bismuth, antimony and water.

Gallium also attacks most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice. Gallium for example diffuses into the grain boundaries of Al/Zn alloys or steel, making them very brittle. Also, gallium metal easily alloys with many metals, and was used in small quantities in the core of the first atomic bomb to help stabilize the plutonium crystal structure.

The melting point of 302.9146 K (29.7646°C, 85.5763°F) is near room temperature. Gallium's melting point (mp) is one of the formal temperature reference points in the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) established by BIPM. The triple point of gallium of 302.9166 K (29.7666°C, 85.5799°F), is being used by NIST in preference to gallium's melting point.

Gallium is a metal that will melt in one's hand. This metal has a strong tendency to supercool below its melting point/freezing point. Seeding with a crystal helps to initiate freezing. Gallium is one of the metals (with caesium, rubidium, francium and mercury) which are liquid at or near normal room temperature, and can therefore be used in metal-in-glass high-temperature thermometers. It is also notable for having one of the largest liquid ranges for a metal, and (unlike mercury) for having a low vapor pressure at high temperatures. Unlike mercury, liquid gallium metal wets glass and skin, making it mechanically more difficult to handle (even though it is substantially less toxic and requires far fewer precautions). For this reason as well as the metal contamination problem and freezing-expansion problems noted above, samples of gallium metal are usually supplied in polyethylene packets within other containers.

Gallium does not crystallize in any of the simple crystal structures. The stable phase under normal conditions is orthorhombic with 8 atoms in the conventional unit cell. Each atom has only one nearest neighbor (at a distance of 244 pm) and six other neighbors within additional 39 pm. Many stable and metastable phases are found as function of temperature and pressure.

The bonding between the nearest neighbors is found to be of covalent character, hence Ga2 dimers are seen as the fundamental building blocks of the crystal. This explains the drop of the melting point compared to its neighbour elements aluminium and indium. The compound with arsenic, gallium arsenide is a semiconductor commonly used in light-emitting diodes.

High-purity gallium is dissolved slowly by mineral acids.

Gallium has no known biological role, although it has been observed to stimulate metabolism.

HISTORY

Gallium (the Latin Gallia means "Gaul," essentially modern France) was discovered spectroscopically by Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875 by its characteristic spectrum (two violet lines) in an examination of a zinc blende from the Pyrenees.[9] Before its discovery, most of its properties had been predicted and described by Dmitri Mendeleev (who had called the hypothetical element "eka-aluminium" on the basis of its position in his periodic table). Later, in 1875, Boisbaudran obtained the free metal by electrolysis of its hydroxide in potassium hydroxide solution. He named the element "gallia" after his native land of France. It was later claimed that, in one of those multilingual puns so beloved of men of science in the early 19th century, he had also named gallium after himself, as his name, "Le coq," is the French for "the rooster," and the Latin for "rooster" is "gallus"; however, in an 1877 article Le coq denied this supposition. (The supposition was also noted in Building Blocks of the Universe, a book on the elements by Isaac Asimov.)

OCCURENCE

Gallium does not exist in free form in nature, and the few high-gallium minerals such as gallite (CuGaS2) are too rare to serve as a primary source of the element or its compounds. Its abundance in the Earth's crust is approximately 16.9 ppm. Gallium is found and extracted as a trace component in bauxite and to a small extent from sphalerite. The amount extracted from coal, diaspore and germanite in which gallium is also present is negligible. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates gallium reserves to exceed 1 million tonnes, based on 50 ppm by weight concentration in known reserves of bauxite and zinc ores. Some flue dusts from burning coal have been shown to contain small quantities of gallium, typically less than 1% by weight.

PRECAUTIONS

While not considered toxic, the data about gallium are inconclusive. Some sources suggest that it may cause dermatitis from prolonged exposure; other tests have not caused a positive reaction. Like most metals, finely divided gallium loses its luster and powdered gallium appears gray. Thus, when gallium is handled with bare hands, the extremely fine dispersion of liquid gallium droplets, which results from wetting skin with the metal, may appear as a gray skin stain.

Alejandro ( Legends ) - Gallium thinks the IDEA of a Vampire in the house is cool, but Alex doesn't live up to her expectations.

Lafe ( Legends ) : She is uninterested.

Otium ( FD ): Gallium thinks Otium is the coolest child that Halo has and he always helps her get materials for her piercing.

Mael ( FD ): Gallium thinks he looks AWESOME.

Uncle Tom and Uncle Carmine - She gets along with these men just fine. They help fuel her darker hobbies.



Hela ( HICCUPS ) - Hela and Gallium haven't really met. There is equal chance that they hate each other as there is that they'd be friends.

Bloodstone ( SHADOW FIEND ) - Bloodstone is a shadow fiend. Previously bound to Halo he had many hardships. He is now bound to Algie in the hopes of a new, less stressful life.

Rurik ( FEIEN FAIRIES ) - Rurik is vain and bossy. He lives with Gallium and Valsharess in a room of their own. His element is metal so he thrives with Gallium as a friend. As much of a friend as he can be.

Valsharess ( FEIEN FAIRIES ) - Valsharess is strange and slightly airheaded. She's an adult but she acts very girlish. She loves girlie things. Her sphere of influence is Respiration. Gallium is closest to her of anyone in the house. By this point they consider each other sisters.

The house also contains many varieties of ghosts, monsters, medusas and furry beasts that they family has had as pets over the years.