Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered gallium
in a sample of sphalerite by its two violet spectral lines
and he subsequently isolated it
using electrolysis of gallium hydroxide.
Atomic number 31
Unusual metal alloys,
high-speed semiconductors,
and artificial garnets.
Bizarre stuff
If you handle the metal,
extremely fine droplets
of liquid gallium wet your skin.
This kind of thing, bizarre
and independent, does not exist
in our normal experience.
Gallium was the first element that was discovered with a spectroscope
but was not named after its color.
Although “gallus” is Latin for rooster (“le coq” in French),
Lecoq declared that he named gallium after “Gallia,” the Latin name for Gaul (that is, France).
Gallium was the first element that was discovered with a spectroscope but was not named after its color. Although “gallus” is Latin for rooster (“le coq” in French), Lecoq declared that he named gallium after “Gallia,” the Latin name for Gaul (that is, France).
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