The exact composition of Galinstan is not publicly known.

Gallium is an important component in the alloy galinstan, along with tin.

Galinstan tends to wet and adhere to many materials, including glass, which limits its use compared to mercury.

A few examples are those based on galinstan, NaK.

Some manufacturers use galinstan, a liquid alloy of gallium, indium, and tin, as a replacement for mercury.

Unlike other liquid metals used in this application, such as lithium and mercury, the nonreactivity makes Galinstan a safer material to use.

It is an ingredient in the gallium-indium-tin alloy galinstan, which is liquid at room temperature but not toxic like mercury.

Galinstan thermometers are a recent introduction to the Canadian market place, and are most commonly seen in fever thermometers.

Most thermometers now use pigmented alcohol instead of mercury, and galinstan alloy thermometers are also an option.

Examples include alcohol-filled "red bulb", Galinstan (a silvery metal alloy similar to mercury in appearance), or digital thermometers.

It can be used as a liquid seal up to high temperatures or even at lower temperatures when alloyed with other metals (e.g. as galinstan).

- Groin readings were simultaneous (Galinstan on one side; mercury on the other) bilateral at the location of the femoral artery.

Some reasonably well known fusible alloys are Wood's metal, Field's metal, Rose metal, Galinstan, and NaK.

Conclusions For both mercury and Galinstan glass thermometers, rectal readings were higher than oral and oral readings were higher than skin site temperature assessments.

When the wetting action of gallium-alloys is not desired (as in Galinstan glass thermometers), the glass must be protected with a transparent layer of gallium(III) oxide.

Metal alloys that are liquid at room temperature include NaK, a sodium-potassium metal alloy, galinstan, a fusible alloy liquid, and some amalgams (alloys involving mercury).

The official MSDS (Material safety data sheet) mentions only that Galinstan is an "eutectic mixture of the metal components gallium, indium and tin" with no further explanation provided.

- Technique for rectal included two sheathed thermometers (one mercury, one Galinstan) with water-soluble lubrication, inserted together to a depth of five cms [ 21 54 55 ] .

Once the rectal thermometers were inserted, the principal investigator's gloved thumb and forefinger held the top safety grip on the mercury and top 0.5 cm of the 12.7 cm long Galinstan.

Mercury thermometers have largely been replaced by electronic digital thermometers, or, more rarely, thermometers based on liquids other than mercury (such as galinstan, coloured alcohols and heat-sensitive liquid crystals).

It is also known that many commercially available gallium, indium and tin eutectic alloys are advertised with a melting point of about 11 C which is significantly higher than -19 C featured by Galinstan.

Due to the low toxicity and low reactivity of its component metals, galinstan finds use as a replacement for many applications that previously employed the toxic liquid mercury or the reactive NaK (sodium-potassium alloy).

Mercury thermometers are still occasionally used in the medical field because they are more accurate than alcohol thermometers, though both are commonly being replaced by electronic thermometers and less commonly by galinstan thermometers.

Discussion of device comparisons When comparing within-subject mean differences between the two low-tech temperature devices (BD mercury and Geratherm Galinstan), the smallest differences occurred at the rectal site; the largest differences were recorded at skin sites.

A still increasing amount is used as gaseous mercury in fluorescent lamps, while most of the other applications are slowly phased out due to health and safety regulations and is in some applications replaced with less toxic but considerably more expensive Galinstan alloy.