1. Properties

The metal, discovered in 1863 by Ferdinand Reich and Hyeronimus Theodor Richter of the Freiberg School of Mines (Germany), is a soft, shiny, lustrous metal. The natural metal is a mixture of 96% ¹¹⁵ In and 4% ¹¹³ In, which are its two isotopes.

Indium belongs to Group IIIB, along with gallium and thallium. Its atomic characteristics are listed in table 1 .