Mercury
Mercury, Hg, is a heavy silvery liquid transition metallic
element, found in
Group IIb of
the periodic table.
- Atomic Number : 80
- Relative Atomic Mass : 200.59
- Melting Point : -38.87 degC
- Boiling Point : 356 degC
- Relative Density : 13.5
Mercury metal and its compounds are highly toxic and must be handled
with caution.
Discovery
Mercury was reported by Theophrastus in 300BC.
Occurrence
Mercury is found in cinnebar at a wide number of locations around
the world.
Extraction
Mercury is extracted almost exclusively from cinnebar by roasting
and the resulting metal purified by distillation.
HgS + O2 ==> Hg + SO2
Properties
Mercury
- is a silvery liquid metal of high density,
- does not tarnish in air at room temperature, but forms its
oxide when heated to its boiling point,
- reacts readily with chlorine, and
- reacts readily with nitric acid, yielding mercuric nitrate and
Oxides of Nitrogen.
Reactions
Uses
Mercury is used
- as the indicating fluid in thermometers,
- in mirrors,
- in the manufacture of detonators, and
- in the preparation of sodium amalgam which is used as a
reducing agent in the laboratory.
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