thanks
2006-11-09 14:01:03 · 6 answers · asked by cartergirl_denise 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
or_try_this is correct. It is dense, and a 30-inch column of mercury fits in a laboratory better than a 34-foot column of water. It is stable and doesn't evaporate at room temperature. Its thermal expansion can be compensated for, but it's usually small compared to the pressure differences it's measuring. It looks scientific, too.
2006-11-10 13:26:01 · answer #1 · answered by Frank N 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The main reason is because mercury is very dense (heavy). With other fluids, the manometer would have to be much longer.
It also helps that it is liquid at normal temperatures, and it has a low vapor pressure.
2006-11-09 22:11:01 · answer #2 · answered by or_try_this 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Mercury is a metal, and just like any other metal, it expands very easily when heated (and contracts when cools off). But, like any other metal, it is in a liquid state at room temperature, which provides us with the opportunity to put it in a very fine tube. This way, when it expands, it goes up in the tube. Because mecury is toxic though, now we use alcohol.
2006-11-09 22:58:49 · answer #3 · answered by kihela 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
mercury has a power that it can actually feel the heat and cold that is why it is very powerful because if you spill some on your skin you would probably go to the hospitol. That is why it is used in a manometer
2006-11-09 22:08:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I believe it is all keyed to air pressure, thermometers, etc. Hg is/was used in thermometers because it had a good coefficient of thermal expansion, it was used in barometers (one end open to the air) because it did not evaporate readilly.... Inches (or mg.s ) of mercury has become the "coin of the realm".
2006-11-09 22:09:48 · answer #5 · answered by Richard S 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because it tastes like milk
2006-11-09 22:04:03 · answer #6 · answered by ? 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋