Gallium Infiltration at CFSBC

When Larry Zhou and members of the Walnut Chapter of STEM Inspire arrived at Covina First Southern Baptist Church, they weren’t sure what to expect—but what followed was one of our most engaging events yet! A group of 12 eager kids gathered around as we introduced them to the mind-blowing world of gallium infiltration—a process where gallium, a metal with a ridiculously low melting point, seeps into aluminum and makes it brittle.

The kids were fascinated as they watched gallium slowly weaken aluminum soda cans, causing them to crumble under slight pressure. One kid even shouted, "Wait—metal isn’t supposed to do that!" as the experiment unfolded. We also let them hold gallium in their hands and watch it turn to liquid from their body heat, which quickly became a favorite moment.

After a fun Q&A where kids threw out questions like “Can we use this on Iron Man’s suit?” and “What happens if you mix it with other metals?”, the event wrapped up with CFSBC inviting us back for another STEM session! It was awesome to see so much excitement, and we can’t wait to bring more cool experiments to these future scientists.