This is what gallium does to aluminum

Gallium looks a lot like mercury, except unlike mercury, it really likes sticking to glass.  It also has a very different and unique reaction, when it's added to aluminum.  I've actually never tried this myself, and I think I'll test it out on this aluminum bat.  

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[LyricWulf]

I don't know why I expected him to hit a gallium bat with an aluminum bat.

[Valoric]

You know you’re getting older when you’re annoyed he damaged a perfectly good bench top

[frosty_shiba]

Fun fact about gallium: a little while ago, scientists used to play pranks on people by making spoons out of gallium, and subsequent using them to stir tea, and when the spoon melted, the other person freaked out

[TreacherousFennec]

as an aviation worker, i can't describe how freaked out i am over the thought of what plane crashes gallium can cause, if it wasn't banned to carry or ship it via aircraft in ANY form.

[DrakiniteOfficial]

I think Nigel has completely embraced the fact that this channel is the HowToBasic of chemistry.

[aperson]

Imagine giving a painted gallium/aluminum alloy bat to someone for a baseball game and not telling them it had gallium in it.

[ratheeshkumar]

NileRed: now we'll be testing what gallium does to aluminum
Scout: *WHERE THE HELL IS MY FRICKING BAT*

[u]

“This little chunk of metal”

The Metal: *literally a chrome Lego figure*

[rednoodleoffate]

Everybody’s talking about him breaking the bat but nobody’s talking about the _perfect_ one-handed flip he did with it.

[alexpotts]

Gallium is interesting historically as its discovery was widely seen as proof of the validity of the periodic table. When Mendeleev first came up with the idea, there were some gaps in his table, which he assumed would be filled by undiscovered elements, and he assigned properties to these elements based on their positions in the table. A couple of years later gallium was discovered, precisely matching his prediction of the existence of a metal with an atomic mass of around 70 and a preferred oxidation state of +3.

[calmkoala]

It was fun to learn about some of the properties of gallium because I'm a massive Spider-Man nerd and in the 2018 game, doctors ock uses gallium and the properties kinda match up to how it was used

[keziagreste]

For someone who has never held a baseball bat, it was way too surprising that the inside is hollow.. For a second I actually thought Gallium just somehow eroded all the aluminium inside

[chrismichaelyoung]

That part at the end where you smashed the bat in half, followed with a pop up of your vaporizing chicken in acid video couldn't have been more chaotic. Wonderful. Very good. Do more.

[andrewyang]

"A man has been liquified in Lego City!
Quick! build a baseball bat!"

[xjlskrmn]

Actually the gallium didn't weaken the bat, Nigel's just really strong.

[TheHighborn]

For those that are wondering, galluim is used in liquid metal thermal "paste" solutions in PCs or in any other areas where heat transfer is CRITICAL but you can't weld the two things together. It's usually a compounded by some other kinds of metals tho

[murraybrown]

Nice to see metallurgy for uncommon elements. Hopefully it will lead to a new generation of curious scientists and engineers. The next 30 years will see tremendous opportunity in the fields of materials science and extractive metallurgy. For those considering a future in chemistry, physics and engineering, I can attest that after 30+ years in the industry there is no end to the learning process. McGill University graduate. 🇨🇦

[joshuabrown]

I saw you smacking the bat against the table and got some instant Nile Green vibes, had to check to be sure I was actually on your channel!

[LabCoatz_Science]

Nigel: It felt pretty sturdy, however...
Viewers: we know what must happen next
Nigel, after dramatic pause: S M A S H

[jimmy]

I've always wanted to try this, I also wanted to try other metals as I've never heard of it affects them or not