Indium is a chemical element with symbol In and atomic number 49. It is a post-transition metallic element that is rare in Earth's crust. The metal is very soft, malleable and easily fusible, with a melting point higher than sodium, but lower than lithium or tin.
Three reasons Indium stands out
1
A soft and safe metal for chewing.
2
Its tin oxide compound is the transparent conductor coating found on virtually every LCD touchscreen in the world.
3
It makes a distinctive high-pitched crackling sound, known as a "cry," when a bar of it is bent.
The quiet ingredient in every touchscreen
Indium is soft enough to mark paper and squeaks when bent, but its most familiar role is invisible. Indium tin oxide combines transparency with electrical conductivity, creating the clear electrodes in touchscreens and displays. Most indium is recovered as a by-product of zinc processing.
Recognizing Indium in Elementle
If Indium is the mystery element, guesses below atomic number 49 point up and guesses above it point down. Its symbol is In: a green letter matches the same position in that symbol, while a yellow letter belongs in another position.
The family clue turns green for metal guesses. Compare Tin (Sn), number 50 and Gallium (Ga), number 31: they share the family clue, but their atomic numbers and symbols help you tell them apart.
Values are reference data, not a specification for every temperature, pressure, or allotrope. Unknown properties are left unavailable. Superheavy-element predictions remain uncertain.
The introduction and original editorial story are adapted from Wikipedia contributors via Periodic-Table-JSON. Element descriptions and their adaptations are available under CC BY-SA 3.0. Numerical attributes use the PubChem periodic-table dataset, retrieved September 22, 2026.