Mercury: The Periodic Table Of Elements

Mercury is a very interesting element. It is perceived as a shiny metallic liquid. It is number 80 in the Periodic Table of Elements and has the symbol Hg. Mercury is one of the first metals known to humans, and its compounds have been found throughout history. It was first discovered in 1500 BC in an Egyptian tomb. The Egyptians and Chinese were believed to have used cinnabar, a red pigment, for centuries before the birth of Christ, when they discovered the element Mercury. They then used it to help get rid of evil spirits that could have been haunting them. They also thought Mercury had many other mystical properties within their attempts to try and turn Mercury into gold. The Greeks also used Mercury as medicine, even though it was extremely

Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in the rock in the Earth’s crust, with inclusions of coal. There are three different ways you can find Mercury: Elemental (Metallic) Mercury, Inorganic Mercury, and Methylmercury. Elemental Mercury is a shiny, silver-white in color metal, mostly known as quicksilver, and is liquid at room temperature. It is used in older thermometers, light bulbs, and certain electrical switches. When it is dropped, the element breaks into smaller droplets, which can go through small cracks and become strongly attached to certain materials. At room temperature, exposed elemental mercury can evaporate to become an odorless, toxic vapor, and if heated, it can become a colorless, odorless gas. In Mercury’s inorganic form, it occurs abundantly in the environment, mostly in the mineral’s cinnabar and metacinnabar. Mercury can combine with chlorine, sulfur, and other elements and, surprisingly, water to form inorganic salts. Inorganic mercury salts can be carried in water and can be found in soil. Dust containing these salts may become airborne from mining operations that extract mercury-containing

Methylmercury is the most common type of organic mercury, and it is highly toxic to humankind. Mercury has many different chemical properties. Its melting point is -38.9 degrees Celsius. Its boiling point is 356.6 degrees Celsius. Mercury also has seven stable isotopes, 196, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, and 204 amu, and they span a relative mass difference of 4%. Isotopes 200Hg and 202Hg are the most abundant Mercury atoms (23.1% and 29.7%). In the early 1900s, the main uses of mercury were to make scientific equipment, recover gold and silver, manufacture fulminate and vermilion, and felt making. By the 1960s, Mercury was used to produce electrical apparatus, and caustic soda and chlorine accounted for over 50% of mercury uses. Before the 1850s, the world’s supply of usable mercury was extracted from three mines located in Almaden, Spain, Idria, Slovenia and Santa Barbra, Peru. Between the time frame of the 1850s and 1960s, the Santa Barbra mine decreased in production, and mercury mining began in other regions, including Monte Aminta, Italy, and throughout California in the United States. Mercury has many different health