Indium | Chemistry

Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Terra Haute, Indiana, U.S.A.

Indium, 49, Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Indiana USA

Indium: Our tile, designed by chemistry students from Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Terre Haute, Indiana (IN), represents Indium, the 49^th element. Indium, a soft malleable metal, was discovered in 1863 by two German chemists, Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Richter. Indium, named for the indigo blue line in its bright line spectrum, is primarily used in thin film indium tin oxide coatings for flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs). This tile represents Reich and Richter watching Channel 49, the Indium Channel, on their LCD television, but it is indigo blue from lack of a signal.

Drawn by Heath Bennett, Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Terra Haute, Indiana, U.S.A.

Atomic properties*

Name:

Indium

Symbol:

In

Atomic number:

49

Atomic mass:

114.82 amu

Melting point:

156.6°C

Boiling point:

2072°C

Density:

7.31 g/cm³

Electronegativity:

1.78

# of Isotopes:

3

State:

Solid

Colour:

Silvery-lustrous-grey±

Classification:

Metallic±

* Haynes, W. M. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 91st edition: http://www.hbcponline.com/ Retrieved April 7, 2011

± Winter, M. (2010). Home of the Periodic Table. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from Web Elements: http://www.webelements.com/