Gallium - mysterious case of the disappearing spoon

Gallium is the second element named after France, is a key element in mobile phones & Blu-ray players & melts at body temperature, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 31 of Elemental.

Gallium is the second element on the periodic table named after France. It is a key element in mobile phones & Blu-ray players.

It looks like silver but melts at body temperature, a feature that fun-loving chemists used to exploit to play pranks on people, says Prof Allan Blackman from AUT. They would craft a spoon from gallium, which would dissolve when the unsuspecting user went to stir the sugar in their cup of tea.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details