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So I'm taking it that, nickel IS a magnetic metal, but just asking to be sure. And what about chromium and tin?
The only pure metallic elements that are "magnetic", in the sense that they will stick to a magnet, are iron, cobalt and nickel. Almost-pure alloys of any of these elements should be magnetic, too. Pure tin, chromium, mercury, gallium, uranium or any other element on the periodic table are not magnetic.
It is when you start mixing things together that things get interesting, because magnetic properties of alloys are not simply additive. Cupronickel is 25% nickel but it is completely non-magnetic. It is even possible to create alloys that are fairly high in iron, cobalt or nickel that are still not magnetic. "Austenitic stainless steel" is still 70% iron but is nevertheless non-magnetic.
Alloys of other non-magnetic elements can also become magnetic. The rare earth elements are all, individually, non-magnetic but some alloys are magnetic.
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And also, will these metals stick to a magnet in their molten form? (I was once told that "liquid hot mag-muh" (quoting Dr. Evil) as in molten metal was non-magnetic)
No. The property we are for now calling "magnetism" - the ability to stick to a magnet - depends on the microcrystalline structure of the iron. If you melt the iron you destroy its crystal structure, ergo, there's nothing left to stick to a magnet.
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Plus I'd like to feel a what a "dry" liquid feels like. That's why I want to get some gallium, I have heard that it is not overly toxic, and it melts a human body temperature. Does anyone know where I can buy a decent amount of gallium, cheap?
This thread from last year has some discussion about gallium being hyped on
ebay as "liquid bullion metal". The pricelist for the bulk gallium supplier I linked to has not changed: 58 cents a gram.
Gallium has some drawbacks compared to mercury. It's surface tension is much lower, meaning it tends to smear and stick to you much more readily. Further, it's much more prone to oxidation.
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I always thought that would be a bad way to die: Drop someone who is almost, if not completely nude in a pit with a giant cube of gallium there is taller than the person, and let that person stand on the gallium cube, as it slowly melts and swallows up the person from their body heat melting the gallium.
People drown in water because the water is less dense than they are, therefore they sink. The density of body-temperature liquid gallium is about 6 grams per cubic centimetre, or about six times more dense than you and I are. So it is even harder to "drown in gallium" than it is to drown in quicksand (with a density around 2 g/cm3) - and, as the Mythbusters proved, trying to drown someone in quicksand is impossible because it is so dense they just float in it like a cork.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
) Don't worry folks. That is not what I want some gallium for. I just want a small amount to "melt in my hand, not in my mouth! LoL! 
Posted 04/12/2014 1:00 pm
