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gallium

gallium

4 9.9
A soft silvery metal that melts just above room temperature
  • noun
  • /ˈɡæliəm/
  • Specialized
: galio
  • The current optical drives use gallium arsenide semiconductor lasers that emit in the 690-nm wavelength region.
  • gallium arsenide
  • gallium chloride
  • gallium LEDs

So we're going to stop exporting to you Germanium, gallium, the rare earths.

Examples

  • But their focus gradually turned toward the development of Si and gallium arsenide devices for solar-cell applications.

    Academic text (2012)
  • In this experiment, physicists monitor a hundred tons of liquid gallium chloride for any collisions between neutrinos and gallium nuclei.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The SAGE collaboration will use gallium metal as the target material.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The soft metal gallium has such a low melting point that it will liquefy on contact with your hand.

    Academic text (2002)
  • So this is my recovered gallium from that reaction ready to be used again with more aluminum.

  • The Soviet experimentalists have 60 tons of gallium available and began taking data in 1988.

    Academic text (1990)
  • At the core of the new technology is the gallium-nitride computer chip that yields longer-lasting, low-energy light bulbs.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The GALLEX collaboration will employ gallium in the chemical form of an aqueous solution of gallium chloride and hydrochloric acid.

    Academic text (1990)
  • As the temperature rose, the gallium melted in the container, changing from solid to liquid.

  • Scientists analyze the gallium extracted from ores to develop new technologies for electronics.

Synonyms

Ga
vsgallium
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A chemical symbol for a soft silvery metal that melts in your hand

refers to the actual metallic element rather than its written symbol

Surface Forms

gallium singular
galliums plural

Etymology

Gallium was named after the Latin Gallia, which means 'France', because the scientist who discovered it was French. One popular memory hook is that he also thought of the Latin gallus, 'rooster', as a little joke on his own name Le Coq, so the name gallium and the symbol Ga can help you remember its link to 'France'.