Gallium

gallium
    n 1: a rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element;
         brittle at low temperatures but liquid above room
         temperature; occurs in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc
         ores [syn: {gallium}, {Ga}, {atomic number 31}]
    

Gallium \Gal"li*um\, n. [NL.; perh. fr. L. Gallia France.]
   (Chem.)
   A rare metallic element, found combined in certain zinc ores.
   It is white, hard, and malleable, resembling aluminium, and
   remarkable for its low melting point (86[deg] F., 30[deg]
   C.). Symbol, Ga; at. wt., 69.9. Gallium is chiefly trivalent,
   resembling aluminium and indium. It was predicted with most
   of its properties, under the name eka-aluminium, by the
   Russian chemist Mendelyeev on the basis of the periodic law.
   This prediction was verified in its discovery (in 1875) by
   the French chemist Lecoq de Boisbaudran by its characteristic
   spectrum (two violet lines), in an examination of a zinc
   blende from the Pyrenees.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
    

Ekaluminium \Ek*al`u*min"i*um\, n. [Skr. [=e]ka one + E.
   aluminium.] (Chem.)
   The name given by Mendeleev to a hypothetical element, --
   later discovered and called {gallium}. See {Gallium}, and cf.
   {Ekabor}. Also see {periodic table}.
   [1913 Webster +PJC]
    

gallium
Symbol: Ga
Atomic number: 31
Atomic weight: 69.72
Soft silvery metallic element, belongs to group 13 of the periodic
table.
The two stable isotopes are Ga-69 and Ga-71. Eight radioactive isotopes
are known, all having short half-lives. Gallium Arsenide is used as a
semiconductor. Corrodes most other metals by diffusing into their
lattice.
First identified by Francois Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875.