The Weirdest Metal on Earth
In the Periodic Table, element number 80, known as mercury is really weird compared to other metals. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature, which is 20˚C. Even though it is a liquid, mercury still looks like a metal, making it like a liquid mirror. Small droplets of mercury look like metal beads that roll around like water on oil. Another strange thing is that mercury is deceivingly heavy to lift since it’s more than thirteen times denser than water. The uniqueness of mercury makes it useful in lots of places, from tilt switches to mirror telescopes. However, mercury and chemicals that have mercury in them, are really toxic to people. Since mercury is so dangerous, scientists have been finding replacements that are safer to use. A mixture of metals known as Galinstan might be the next best thing to mercury.
Galinstan: An Unexpected Mix
Galinstan is mainly a mix of the elements Gallium, Indium, and Tin. The mixture has the ability to be a liquid at room temperature just like mercury. The similarities between Galinstan and mercury makes it a great candidate to replace mercury. Thermometers with mercury in them aren’t made anymore because they were too dangerous. Now some thermometers have Galinstan because it is non-toxic to people but still expands and shrinks like mercury when it gets hot or cold. Galinstan is also very good at transferring heat, so people use it on computers to stop them from overheating. People are even trying to use Galinstan to replace mirrors that use mercury in large mirror telescopes.
Like mercury, Galinstan has its own problems. Galinstan has the ability to “eat” other metals, which makes it hard to work with when with other metals. Galinstan is also like water because it can make things “wet” and expands when frozen. Because of this, glass containers get messy or even crack when they have Galinstan inside them. Scientists have been trying to solve this problem and there haven’t been any good solutions yet but Galinstan still solves some of the biggest problems with mercury.
Why Galinstan is Cool
I came across Galinstan while trying to find a way to get something like mercury. It is so cool just to see a metal that is also a liquid without having to heat it up to something as hot as a volcano. While researching the strange mixture I discovered that I could make it myself. The element Gallium has the ability to eat metals, so even though other metals have high melting points, gallium can still incorporate them into itself, making Galinstan easy to make. Galinstan is part of a group called Eutectic alloys: a mixture of metals that melt at temperatures lower than the metals it is made of. The interesting thing about eutectic alloys is that it is still actively studied and redefined. Galinstan has its fair share of research because it has many different blends that give it different melting points. It’s ease of access and unique properties are what makes me want to try experiments of my own!
Leave a Reply