Gallium - mysterious case of the disappearing spoon
May 28, 2019•7 min•Ep. 31
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Episode description
Gallium is the second element named after France, is a key element in mobile phones & Blu-ray players & melts at body temperature, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 31 of Elemental.
Gallium is the second element on the periodic table named after France. It is a key element in mobile phones & Blu-ray players.
It looks like silver but melts at body temperature, a feature that fun-loving chemists used to exploit to play pranks on people, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT. They would craft a spoon from gallium, which would dissolve when the unsuspecting user went to stir the sugar in their cup of tea.
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