Gallium \Gal"li*um\, n. [NL.; perh. fr. L. Gallia France.]
   (Chem.)
   A rare metallic element, found combined in certain zinc ores.
   It is white, hard, and malleable, resembling aluminium, and
   remarkable for its low melting point (86[deg] F., 30[deg]
   C.). Symbol, Ga; at. wt., 69.9. Gallium is chiefly trivalent,
   resembling aluminium and indium. It was predicted with most
   of its properties, under the name eka-aluminium, by the
   Russian chemist Mendelyeev on the basis of the periodic law.
   This prediction was verified in its discovery (in 1875) by
   the French chemist Lecoq de Boisbaudran by its characteristic
   spectrum (two violet lines), in an examination of a zinc
   blende from the Pyrenees.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

	

	Ekaluminium \Ek*al`u*min"i*um\, n. [Skr. [=e]ka one + E.
   aluminium.] (Chem.)
   The name given by Mendeleev to a hypothetical element, --
   later discovered and called gallium. See Gallium, and cf.
   Ekabor. Also see periodic table.
   [1913 Webster +PJC]

	

	gallium
     n : a rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element; brittle
         at low temperatures but liquid above room temperature;
         occurs in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores [syn: Ga,
          atomic number 31]

	

	gallium
Symbol: Ga
Atomic number: 31
Atomic weight: 69.72
Soft silvery metallic element, belongs to group 13 of the periodic table.
The two stable isotopes are Ga-69 and Ga-71. Eight radioactive isotopes
are known, all having short half-lives. Gallium Arsenide is used as a
semiconductor. Corrodes most other metals by diffusing into their lattice.
First identified by Francois Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875.