G’day; here’s a bit more about indium than you ever wanted to
know: It was called indium because there is a brilliant indigo
line in it’s spectrum. The melting point is 156.61C - a bit hotter
than boiling water The specific gravity of indium is 7.31 It is of
a similar abundance to silver, and is mostly found associated
with zinc minerals, but also found in iron, lead and copper ores.
It a very soft, silvery white metal with a brilliant lustre, and
gives a high-pitched “cry” when bent (pure tin does this too,
caused by the crystal structures grating over each other; I’ve
heard it) When molten it wets glass (unlike most other metals,
including mercury of course) It’s main application is in the
making of low temperature melting point alloys Thus an alloy of
24% indium-76% gallium is liquid at room temperatures and other
alloys melting at higher temperatures are use in making fusible
links as safety devices in special ovens. It is used in making
bearing alloys, transistors, rectifiers, thermistors, and
photoconductors. It can be plated on to metal, evaporated in a
vacuum on to glass where it forms a mirror as good as silver, but
with more resistance to atmospheric corrosion. There is, however
some evidence that it has toxic properties.
Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?
Oh, I left out things like valency, electron configuration,
oxidation states, boiling point, isotopes, atomic weight…
Goes to show, don’t it? But do have fun. Cheers,
/\
/ / John Burgess,
/ /
/ //\ @John_Burgess2
/ / \ \
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