See query. A gift from a friend, in a tube somewhat like a cross between a .50 calibre shell and a suppository for an ox, with a replaceable cap.
Told me “it was cool and melts easily.”
Is it dangerous?
It’s a bit like silly putty. This is what the Amazon website says about it:
A well-known practical joke among chemists is to fashion gallium spoons and use them to serve tea to unsuspecting guests, since gallium has a similar appearance to its lighter homolog aluminium. The spoons then melt in the hot tea
Uhm…semiconductors? You have a cleanroom, right?
That last comment was from Wikipedia - missed the edit
The only cool thing about it is that it will melt in your hand despite being solid at room temperature; its melting point is around 85 F. I don’t know what else to do with it besides let it melt in your hand.
edit: Wikipedia also says that unlike most things (but like water), its density decreases as it freezes. I don’t think you can really do anything cool with that knowledge though.
Another precaution - don’t put the liquid into a tightly sealed glass container - it expands a bit when it solidifies, like ice, and can crack the container.
It exhibits a conchoidal fracture pattern, like glass.
use it as a party trick; impress kids with your ability to melt metal in your hand. then, blow their minds by showing them they have the power (with appropriate skin protection) to melt metal too.
Don’t put in your pocket.
Sounds to me like it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
I think all these posts are jumping over the meta-issue: why did Leo’s friend give him a sample of gallium? And where did the friend get it - just happened to have a tube of it kicking around?
Give it to someone else as a gift …
As for where he got it, it’s not like there’s any restrictions on buying it - Amazon lists it here for $26.90 for 100 grams:
https://www.amazon.com/Gallium-99-99-Pure-Grams-RotoMetals/dp/B01M6AYJNV
The company that supplies it, RotoMetals, sells a lot of specialty metals.
I notice that it’s “frequently bought together” with a sample of bismuth. THAT, you can make pretty crystals out of:
BTW, if you happen to have a “mercury free” fever thermometer that looks like it has mercury in it, that’s galinstan - a eutectic alloy of gallium, indium and tin (stannous) that happens to melt at a low enough temperature for that purpose.
You can pretend you’re Uri Geller.
Or use it to destroy aluminum.
I would think that making a spoon that looks remotely good is not an easy task. However, amazon to the rescue.
Unsurprisingly that is frequently sold with the Gallium linked earlier by yabob. Notice both the mold and the metal are sold by Rotometals.