<P> Another advantage of liquid alloy systems is their inherent high densities . </P> <P> Once oxides have been removed from the substrate surface, most liquid metals will wet to most metallic surfaces . Specifically though, room - temperature liquid metal can be very reactive with certain metals . Liquid metal can dissolve most metals; however, at moderate temperatures, only some are slightly soluble, such as sodium, potassium, gold, magnesium, lead, nickel and interestingly mercury . Gallium is corrosive to all metals except tungsten and tantalum, which have a high resistance to corrosion, more so than niobium, titanium and molybdenum . </P> <P> Similar to indium, gallium and gallium - containing alloys have the ability to wet to many non-metallic surfaces such as glass and quartz . Gently rubbing the alloy into the surface may help induce wetting . However, this observation of "wetting by rubbing into glass surface" has created a widely spread misconception that the gallium - based liquid metals wet glass surfaces, as if the liquid breaks free of the oxide skin and wets the surface . The reality is the opposite: the oxide makes the liquid wet the glass . In more details: as the liquid is rubbed into and spread onto the glass surface, the liquid oxidizes and coats the glass with a thin layer of oxide (solid) residues, on which the liquid metal wets . In other words, what is seen is a gallium - based liquid metal wetting its solid oxide, not glass . Apparently, the above misconception was caused by the super-fast oxidation of the liquid gallium in even a trace amount of oxygen, i.e., nobody observed the true behavior of a liquid gallium on glass, until research at the UCLA debunked the above myth by testing Galinstan, a gallium - based alloy that is liquid at room temperature, in an oxygen - free environment . Note: These alloys form a thin dull looking oxide skin that is easily dispersed with mild agitation . The oxide - free surfaces are bright and lustrous . </P> <P> Typical uses of liquid metals include thermostats, switches, barometers, heat transfer systems, and thermal cooling and heating designs . Uniquely, they can be used to conduct heat and / or electricity between non-metallic and metallic surfaces . </P>

An example of a metal which is liquid at room temperature is