Atomic Number: 31

Atomic Weight: 69.723

Melting Point: 302.91 K (29.76°C or 85.57°F)

Boiling Point: 2477 K (2204°C or 3999°F)

Density: 5.91 grams per cubic centimeter

Phase at Room Temperature: Solid

Element Classification: Metal

Period Number: 4

Group Number: 13

Group Name: none

What's in a name? From the Latin word for France, Gallia.

Say what? Gallium is pronounced as GAL-ee-em.

History and Uses:

First proposed to exist by Dmitri Mendeleyev in 1871 based on gaps in his newly created Periodic Table of Elements, gallium was discovered spectroscopically by the French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875. Later that same year, Lecoq was able to obtain pure gallium through the electrolysis of a solution of gallium hydroxide (Ga(OH) 3 ) in potassium hydroxide (KOH). Trace amounts of gallium are found in diaspore, sphalerite, germanite and bauxite as well as in the byproducts of burning coal.