What is so special about Mercury (the metal)?

Question

The ancients thought they would live longer taking it, and stocked up on it, and even now people have a thing about it.

Is there some thing special about it, is it rare like gold, or is it just pretty?

Answer 1

The main reason is that it is special is because it is a liquid at room temperature, unlike the vast majority of other metals. It has a high density, so that makes it excellent for use in thermometers and barometers (Pressure measurement). Often moderate pressures, and more especially vacuum, is still quoted in terms of inches or mm of mercury (1 atmosphere pressure is approximately 30" or 760 mm Hg). It was also historically widely used in the manufacture of sodium hydroxide and chlorine from salt.

Unfortunately, it is not used as much these days as it is highly toxic by ingestion, and by skin contact.

Ironically, though, it is still used in dental amalgams for making fillings, simply because a better alternative has not been found. I believe it is, though, being phased out, and is banned in some countries. It is also used in the preparation child vaccinations in extremely low concentrations. There is also some concern over this, although this is also being phased out where practicable.

One of the most fascinating things I found about Mercury was when my science teacher (Many years ago) was pushing it across a wooden bench with a pen. Firstly, the high surface tension meant that it was almost a perfect sphere. Secondly, unlike water, oil etc., it did not leave a trail behind it. Finally, if you split it up into separate droplets, they would really easily join together to make one larger droplet as soon as they came into contact with one another.

It is probably these last fascinating properties that make it so special in many peoples minds.

Answer 2

I once stuck my whole hand into a large pot of mercury, right down to my wrist. It was an amazing feeling ! It needed quite some effort to force my hand in, because of the large weight of mercury displaced (specific gravity about 13·6). And, of course, when I released the pressure and my hand floated to the surface again, it was perfectly dry.

Apart from the fact that it's difficult nowadays to find such a large quantity of mercury all in one place, I don't recommend that you copy my example, especially if there are any scratches at all on your hand, as it can enter the body through even quite small scratches. The other risks of that experiment are that mercury is toxic by absorption through the skin, especially if any droplets remain under the nails, also, any time that the hand is brought near the face, you are likely to inhale minute quantities of the vapour.

Having said that, mercury metal is not quite as dangerous as people make out and you should not get hysterical about casual contact with the metal. The vapour pressure at room temperature is extremely low, so being in the presence of mercury (e.g. from a broken thermometer) for half an hour will not cause any noticeable harm. The sort of people who are at risk from spilled mercury are laboratory technicians or anybody else who works for long periods in a place where there might be spilled mercury (e.g. from thermometers, pressure gauges, sphigmanometers (I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling), etc.) The mercury, once spilled, can fall into minute cracks in the floor or the furniture and then evaporate over a period of years. It is a cumulative poison, which means that the body, left to its own devices, eliminates the mercury extremely slowly. So even if you breathe in microgramme quantities of mercury each day, you will eventually suffer from the effects of chronic mercury poisoning.

Heated mercury is a much bigger risk than mercury at room temperature, as its vapour pressure is much higher, but it is only in specialised applications that one comes across heated metal (e.g. in mercury rectifiers).

A lot more dangerous than the metal itself are the compounds of mercury, especially the soluble ones, such as mercury(II) chloride, the nitrates of mercury etc. The only compound of mercury I know of that is non-toxic is cinnabar, the naturally occurring red sulphide, which is still sometimes used today in sealing wax.

Allan Deeds.

Answer 3

The previous repondents have got it pretty much covered but didn't answer about it's rarity. It is quite rare - about as rare as silver rather than gold. It does make amalgams (any alloy with mercury is an amalgam) with most metals - I used to cover a penny with mercury to make it into a 'silver' coin. It's fascination is that it's a liquid metal, shiny and very heavy (even lead will float in it.) It is poisonous by breathing as it gives off a vapour even at room temperature and ALL of its compounds are poisonous especially organo-mercury however the liquid metal is not nearly as toxic. It takes about a tablespoon of the liquid metal to cause death. (I simply don't believe the guy who said he drank it!).

Answer 4

Mercury is one of only two elements--the other being bromine--that is a liquid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. It sits next to gold on the periodic table, but behaves in a much different manner. Chemically, mercury is very interesting.
I don't know why mercury was thought to have healing powers. Mercury ions are very toxic, so I try to stay away from mercury. Apparently it's fun to play with.

Answer 5

It's liquid at room temperature, and it's a conductive metal so up until fairly recently, electrical switches were made using it.

It's a poisonous metal. When I was a kid, "mercurochrome" was sold to be put on cuts and scrapes, to disinfect ouchies. In past centuries, it was used in part of the curing process for making leather hats -- causing brain damage in the people using it, thus giving rise to the phrase "mad as a hatter."

It can form an amalgam with gold, and so it was used for purifying gold.

It is so very damaging to the human nervous system that its use is being deprecated.

Answer 6

Its a metal but it is liquid at room temperature which makes it strange and unusual.
It is pretty and poisonous too.

The 1st Emperor of China thought it conferred longevity and he drank it; it made him mad and killed him. Legend has it that under his tomb is an enormous lake of the stuff, in the form of a map of the known world (when he lived)
Soil samples from the area indicate very high levels of mercury but the Chinese believe in letting the ancestors rest in peace and so will not permit excavation so we may never know the truth of it.

Answer 7

Mercury is the only metal that is

LIQUID= =( quick silver)

It is unique, in that it expands visibly. or contracts,
to a fluctuation on temperature or pressure

It is used in thermometers to measure temperature
and barometers to measure atmospheric pressure
also in SPHIMANONOMETERS to measure blood pressure

Mercury stays in one globule.
if squeezed it flies into many small globules

NOTE:
Mercury is very toxic , and should not be handled , or taken by mouth .;
It was used by dentists, to make amalgam, but has now been banned for that use
In certain polluted areas fish, have poisonous levels of mercury in them .

Mercury is the only unheated liquid metal.

Yes it is very pretty ,but deadly

>^,,^<

Answer 8

It's the only liquid metal.
Doctors on sailing warships used to grind it up in fat and apply it to the appropriate area of sailors who had enjoyed themselves ashore. It didn't work too well but it helped! It was known as 'Blue Ointment'.
Mercuric compounds act much faster in poisoning you than the liquid metal but I suggest you do not do any tests to prove this. Just look at people who have drunk water contaminated with industrial effluent.
RoyS.

Answer 9

It's the only metal that's liquid at room temperature. And I think (might be making this bit up) that under certain circumstances it will actually move aware if you try and touch it,

So it if fairly special.

Answer 10

Mercury is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg.

Mercury is one of five elements that are liquid at or near standard room temperature (the others are the metals caesium, francium, and gallium, and the nonmetal bromine)

Mercury should be handled with care. Containers of mercury should be securely sealed to avoid spills and evaporation. Heating of mercury, or compounds of mercury that may decompose when heated, should always be carried out with adequate ventilation in order to avoid human exposure to mercury vapor. Most of its compounds are highly toxic, especially its inorganic compounds.

Fish and shellfish have a natural tendency to concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of methylmercury, a highly toxic organic compound of mercury.