User:Geo7777/Tables and other designs

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Applications
With the exception of synthetic ununtrium, each and every element in the boron group has numerous applications and uses in the production and the content of many items.

Boron has been known to have many industrial applications since decades ago, and new applications are still being found for it. A common application is the usage in fiberglass. As an alternitave to fiberglass, though, boron has had a rapidly expanding place in borosilicate glass, a different type of glass with it's own advantages and disadvantages, the most notable one being its resistance to thermal expansion much more than regular gllass. Another commercially expanding use of boron and its derivitaves are its use in ceramics and other decorations. Due to the many pros and unique properties of several of boron's compounds, especially oxides, it is replacing other less useful materials and elements with itself. Its uses include in pots, vases, plates, and ceramic handles on pans, because it does not conduct electricity very well (it is an insulator). The compound borax is used in chlothes bleach and tooth bleach. As stated above, boron and some of its compounds are very hard. This opens a wide window of uses for the element. A small part (5%) is used for agricultural uses. Finally, some minor applications are in use for boron and its compounds.

Aluminium is a metal which we almost always use in our everyday lives. It is used everyday for many uses; the most oftenly used is in construction, in electricity, especially as the conductor in cables and for cooking and preserving food. Because aluminium does not have any effect in mere contact with food, it is used in canning food products such as fish, produce, crops and most other food. It's high affinity for the element oxygen not only makes aluminium oxides readily found in the crust, but makes it a powerful reducing agent. And, when pure aluminium is ground into a fine powder and put in air, usually in places where oxygen is rich in the air, it rapidly combines with the oxygen back into an oxide generating a huge amount of heat in the process (about 5500°F or 3037.77°C). Therefore, it can be used for welding and other applications where a large amount of heat is needed. Aluminium is also used in alloys for making lightweight bodies for airplanes and helicopters. Cars also sometimes incorporate aluminium in their framework and body. It can and is used in defense equipment. As a less widespread application, it is used as a component in decorations and sometimes in guitars. The element is also in use in a diverse range of electronics.

In the past, gallium and its derivitives rarely was useful. It wasn't until the past decades that gallium has found more applications. Gallium arsenide has been used in semiconductors, in amplifiers, in solar cells (for example in satellites) and in tunnel diodes for FM transmitter circuits. Gallium alloys are used mostly for dental purposes. gallium-ammonium chloride is used for leads in transistors. A major use of gallium is its use in LED lights. pure gallium has been used as dopants in semiconductors. Gallium has the property of being able to 'wet' glass and porcelin, and thus can be used to make mirrors and very reflective objects. Also, gallium can be alloyed with other metals to give the resulting alloy a low melting point. This element can additionally be used in electronic devices with other elements.

Biological Role
None of the group 13 elements have a major biological role in complex animals, but more than one element is at least associated with a living being. Like other groups, the lighter elements usually have more biological roles than the heavier elements if they have any. The other, heavier, elements are toxic as are the other associated elements in their periods. Boron was found to be a trace element in humans, and it is essential in most plants. There is still an ongoing debate to weather boron is more than just a trace element. Boron's chemistry does allow it to form complexes with important molecules such as carbohydrates, so it is very probable that it could be of greater use in the human body than previously thought. Boron has also been shown to be able to replace iron in some of its functions, particularly wound healing. Aluminium has no known biological role in plants or animals. Gallium is not essential for the human body, but its relation to iron3+ allows it to be able to bind itself to iron transport proteins and storage proteins. Gallium can also stimulate metabolism. Due to the fact that indium and its heavier homologues have a high atomic number, they have no biological role, although indium salts in small doses can stimulate metabolism like gallium.