Thursday, March 3, 2011

Gallium


Gallium is a silvery metal with atomic number 31. It's used in semiconductors and LEDs, but the cool thing about it is its melting point, which is only about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you hold a solid gallium crystal in your hand, your body heat will cause it to slowly melt into a silvery metallic puddle. Pour it into a dish, and it freezes back into a solid.
While you probably shouldn't lick your fingers after playing with it, gallium isn't toxic and won't make you crazy like mercury does. And if you get tired of it, you can melt it onto glass and make yourself a mirror.

Here is a vid of a spoon made of the stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIbYiO5BRYk

Thought it was pretty sweet and its not super expensive either.
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17 comments:

  1. Adventures of LifeMarch 3, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    nerdily awesome

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  2. AnonymousMarch 3, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    That is so delightfully awesome! I want some! That seems like it would be very fun for some at home chemistry experiments!

    http://phi-and-sci.blogspot.com/

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  3. BreakMarch 3, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    I want some now it looks fun to play with also nice blog :)

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  4. KUSOMUSHIMarch 3, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    interesting dude

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  5. Bluntmasta FlexMarch 3, 2011 at 11:34 AM

    Awesome!

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  6. FuzzMarch 3, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Interesting stuff, It would be cool if there were more things like this in the world.

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  7. MerlyyMarch 3, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    nerdy but cool

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  8. viljami.korianteriMarch 3, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Nerdy but so am I

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  9. Civic SomaMarch 3, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    awesome! were can i buy some?

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  10. Noah VawterMarch 3, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    dude gallium is very awesome... i had already seen that spoon video, but here's another one for Galliumfans:

    this one is kind of creepy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ccRvKKwZQ

    and this one is just indulgent :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbH2zbEWFqI

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  11. Gaming Like MadMarch 3, 2011 at 12:33 PM

    WOW! I didn't know such thing even existed. I tought it's only in movies lol

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  12. Gamer_BlakeMarch 3, 2011 at 2:24 PM

    gallium would be so fun to play with!

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  13. RawMarch 3, 2011 at 6:43 PM

    Hooray for gallium!

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  14. excoatlMarch 4, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    This is pretty wild, looks crystaline. Very cool!

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  15. GrytMarch 5, 2011 at 6:36 AM

    I had a friend who used to have a huge block of this stuff in his garage in a bucket, it was fun to mess with

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  16. TheHarvesterMarch 6, 2011 at 3:10 AM

    wow this looks like from outer space

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  17. MikeMarch 6, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    That is so cool, I want some haha

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