Gallium Designs - the Coolest Metal

In this instructable, I will walk through some designs you can do with gallium.

Gallium is a really fun non-toxic metal that can MELT IN YOUR HANDS!!! >:) (evil smiley face because everyone has a little evil scientist in them)

When in the liquid form you can hold it in your hand, it feels really weird, yet cool, and it is kind of heavy...

Enjoy!

Gallium, I got a 100 gram pack from amazon

Jello molds

Syringe

Warm water

Container for warm water

Pour the warm water into the container, the water should be at least 86 degrees F at all times.

Metallic Fact: Gallium melts at 85.5 degrees F

Shake the test tube containing the gallium until the gallium comes out. If it does not come out (as per what happened with me) dunk the tube into the water, and let it flow down towards the bottom, then turn it upside down and let it pour out!!!

The gallium will melt down pretty fast in the water, and looks very cool.

After this you can put the syringe into the bottom of the container and suck up the gallium. To extract the water from the syringe, simply orient it so the plunger faces down, and the gallium sinks down, then press, and the water will come out.

WARNING GALLIUM CAN LEAVE MARKS ON SURFACES, SO WORK ON A SURFACE YOU ARE WILLING TO RUIN, or put newspapers over it. If the silvery gray residue gets on your hand, wash it off with warm soap and water! (see photo)

Take a jello mold, I took a cube mold, and a flower mold.

Squeeze out the contents of the syringe into it.

It will be pretty wobbly at first and to make sure you don't spill carry it on another item, or handle carefully.

The gallium will start to solidify, and will be a pretty good mirror at first.

You can leave it at room temperature for a while for it to solidify, but I put it in the fridge with the peanut butter to speed up the process (I am not making up the peanut butter part)

Metallic fact: Gallium is not harmful if ingested in small amounts, but if taken in in large amounts it could lead to death. BE SMART WHILE HANDLING GALLIUM - and use that sense of the commons.

When ready take the molds and touch the gallium, is it hard, then it has solidified, if soft, give it a cooler environment and wait a bit longer.

If you notice a baby-Ga managed to hitchhike onto my cube mold, well I hope it is satisfied with itself, because I would be! >:)

Metallic Fact: Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered gallium, and named it after France, or Gaul.

This was the hardest step for me because that baby-Ga just wouldn't come out.

Anyhoo, I managed eventually, and put it on the flower mold. They came out really well, and I was able to take some nice photos, the photo of it in the mold, was when it had solidified, if you notice their is differences then when it was liquid in the mold.

The cube came out with a 'mirror finish' while the flower was with a 'matte'. You can see reflections really well in the cube. (pictured above)

I put the metal on my hand, and it felt quite heavy, the cube felt very heavy in comparison to the flower!

Of course, this looks a lot better in person, so I recommend you trying it out!!!

I cannot begin to describe how cool this metal is, I like to call it molten gallium, and everyone I know, keeps gasping and asking 'is it hot?' but they don't know!

There are of course many more experiments that can be done, such as making fidget spinners, locks, keys, and more jello molds. But I think that the simplicity of this intractable shows how gallium is out of this world!

Metallic Fact: GALLIUM IS AWESOME

In conclusion, Gallium is a very unique metal and has many interesting properties.

I wonder what it would be like to examine it under a microscope, or liquify a large amount and hold it on my hand (I've restricted my inner evil scientist from handling more than a few drops of gallium)

This is a toy and a science experiment and I would totally recommend it for anyone who is not 100% focused on video games. So go get yourself some gallium, and even though it is pricey, it is worth it.

You can get gallium online, such as eBay or amazon.

Please vote for this instructable in the metal contest

Thank you so much for reading

And embrace that evil scientist of yours >:)