Group IIIA

Boron Group
Group IIIA

 Group 3A metals have three valence electrons in their highest orbitals (ns2
np1 / 2 + 1 = 3)
 They have higher ionization energies than Groups 1A and 2A elements, and
are ionized to form a 3+ charges
 Group 3A metals are silvery in appearance and are good conductors of
electricity
 They are relatively soft metals, with melting points lower than most of Group
2A metals
 The elements found in Group 3A are Boron (5B), Aluminum (13Al), Gallium
(31Ga), Indium (49In), Thallium (81Tl), Ununtrium (113UUt) or Nihonium (113Nh)
Boron (5B)
• 1s2 2s2 2p1
• Found as shiny black crystals, or
as an amorphous brown powder
• Derived from buraq, the Arabic
word for borax
• The 38th most abundant element
• A metalloid / semi-metal, able to
conduct electricity at high
temperatures but becomes an
insulator at room temperature
• Pyrex glassware is a borosilicate
glass and is widely used in
laboratories because it does not
expand on heating as much as
ordinary glass therefore much
resistant to breaking
• Boric acid is also used in
insecticides
Aluminum (13A)
• 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1
• A relatively soft, silvery, malleable
metal
• Derived form the Latin word for
alum, alumen
• The 3rd most abundant element
and the most abundant metal
• Pure aluminum (99.996%) is quite
soft and weak while commercial
aluminum with small amounts of
silicon and iron is hard and strong
• Ductile and highly malleable,
aluminum can be drawn into wire
or rolled into thin foil
• Aluminum is slowly attacked by
most dilute acids and rapidly
dissolves in concentrated
hydrochloric acid
Gallium (31Ga)
• 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p1
• Liquefies just above room
temperature. If an individual’s hand
is in normal temperature, a small
amount of gallium expected to melt
when held
• Though widely distributed at Earth’s
surface, gallium does not occur free
or concentrated in independent
minerals. It is extracted as a by-
product from zinc blende, iron
pyrites, bauxite and germanite
• Silvery white and soft enough to be
cut with a knife
• Used as a doping material for
semiconductors and has been used
to produce solid-state items like
transistors and light emitting diodes
• Large amounts of gallium trichloride
have been gathered to build the
Gallium Neutrino Observatory
located in Italy
Indium (49In)
• 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10
5s2 5p1
• Softest metal that is not an alkali
metal
• A silvery-white metal that
resembles tin in appearance
• A post-transition metal that makes
up 0.21 parts per million of the
Earth’s crust
• Used to dope germanium to make
transistors
• It is also used to make other
electrical components such as
rectifiers, thermistors, and
photoconductors
• Can be used to make mirrors that
are as reflective as silver mirrors but
do not tarnish as quickly
Thallium (81Tl)
• 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10
5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p1
• A gray post-transition metal that is
not found free in nature
• When isolated, thallium resembles
Tin, but discolors when exposed to
air
• Chemists William Crookes and
Claude-Auguste Lamy discovered
thallium independently in 1861, in
residues of sulfuric acid production
• Derived from the Greek word
thallós, meaning “a green shoot or
twig”
• Used in gamma radiation
detection equipment
• Thallium oxide is also used to make
glass that has a high index of
refraction
Ununtrium (113UUt)
• Also called Nihonium (113Nh)
• 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10
5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p6 5f14 6d10 7s2
7p1
• A radioactive, synthetic element
about which little is known
• Classified as a metal and is
expected to be a solid at room
temperature
• Its name means “one-one-three” in
Latin
• The name Nihonium was proposed
to the IUPAC by scientists with
Japan’s RIKEN Nishina Center for
Accelerator-Based Science and
was later approved in 2016
• Nihonium is one way to say
“Japan” in Japanese and means
“the land of the rising sun,”
according to the IUPAC