Gallium
Galio (Ga, Z=31)
- Date
- 1875 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
- People
- 👤 Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran1838–1912
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Lecoq detected it by two violet lines in the spectrum of a Pyrenean sphalerite and isolated it by electrolysis; it matched Mendeleev's 'eka-aluminium'.
Mendeleev corrected the density measured by Lecoq, and he was right.
What it led to
- The first confirmation of a periodic table prediction
- Gallium arsenide and gallium nitride semiconductors (the blue LED)
- Thermometers and low-melting-point alloys
Built on
- Spectroscopy
- Mendeleev's periodic table
Made possible
- Blue GaN LED
- GaAs circuits