Gallium vs. Mercury — What's the Difference?

Gallium is used in semiconductors.

Mercury is a liquid metal at room temperature.

Gallium is a soft, silvery metal.

Mercury is used in barometers.

Gallium has a low toxicity level.

Mercury vapor is used in fluorescent lighting.

Gallium compounds are used in LEDs.

Mercury is found in the mineral cinnabar.

Gallium is not found as a free element in nature.

Mercury is toxic.

Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875, Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table and is similar to the other metals of the group (aluminium, indium, and thallium).

Roman Mythology A god that served as messenger to the other gods and was himself the god of commerce, travel, and thievery.

A rare metallic element that is liquid near room temperature, expands on solidifying, and is found as a trace element in coal, bauxite, and other minerals. It is used in semiconductor technology, as a component of various low-melting alloys, and in producing blue light-emitting diodes. Atomic number 31; atomic weight 69.72; melting point 29.78°C; boiling point 2,403°C; specific gravity 5.907; valence 2, 3. See Periodic Table.

The smallest of the planets and the one nearest the sun, having a sidereal period of revolution about the sun of 87.97 days at a mean distance of 57.91 million kilometers (35.98 million miles) and a mean radius of approximately 2,440 kilometers (1,516 miles).

A chemical element (symbol Ga) with an atomic number of 31; a soft bluish metal.

Symbol HgA silvery-white poisonous metallic element, liquid at room temperature and used in thermometers, barometers, vapor lamps, and batteries and in the preparation of chemical pesticides. Atomic number 80; atomic weight 200.59; melting point -38.83°C; boiling point 356.62°C; specific gravity 13.546 (at 20°C); valence 1, 2.Also called quicksilver. See Periodic Table.

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° F., 30° 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.

Temperature:The mercury had fallen rapidly by morning.

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

Any of several weedy plants of the genera Mercurialis and Acalypha.

A metal.

A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg.

One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals.

(with definite article) Ambient pressure or temperature (from the use of mercury in barometers and thermometers).

(obsolete) Liveliness, volatility.

Any of several types of plant.

An annual plant, annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury.

Any plant of any species of the genus and the genus Mercurialis.

A similar edible plant (Blitum bonus-henricus), otherwise known as English mercury or novern=1.

The poison oak or poison ivy.

A Latin god of commerce and gain; - treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence.

A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly called quicksilver), and is used in barometers, thermometers, etc. Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8. Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his symbol,

One of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.

A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also, a newspaper.

Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability; fickleness.

A plant (Mercurialis annua), of the Spurge family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for spinach, in Europe.

To wash with a preparation of mercury.

A heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures

(Roman mythology) messenger of Jupiter and god of commerce; counterpart of Greek Hermes

The smallest planet and the nearest to the sun

Temperature measured by a mercury thermometer;

Yes, Gallium can melt in your hand due to its low melting point.

Mercury is a liquid at room temperature.

Gallium is mainly used in semiconductors and LEDs.

Yes, Mercury is highly toxic and requires careful handling.

No, Gallium is found in solid form, while Mercury is found in liquid form.

Yes, but its use is decreasing due to toxicity concerns.

Its ability to melt near room temperature makes it unique.

Gallium has low toxicity, making it safe for various applications.

Mercury vapor helps produce light in fluorescent bulbs.

Mercury’s toxicity poses significant environmental and health risks.

Mercury is stored in tightly sealed containers to prevent vapor release.

Mercury is primarily found in the mineral cinnabar.

Gallium is extracted from zinc ores and bauxite.

Gallium is commonly used in electronics, such as in smartphones and LED lights.

Yes, safer alternatives like digital sensors are replacing Mercury in many applications.