Is it safe to touch liquid mercury for a second? Can it evaporate quickly? Can I keep it in sealed glass jar?
2007-01-09 03:12:01 · 7 answers · asked by Lipiew 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Prospectors used to use liquid mercury to extract gold from sand. Then they would hollow out a potato and place it over the mercury. The mercury would vaporize and condense in the potato, leaving the gold behind in the pan.
Some of them would them would take the next crazy step and eat the potato. Apparently the mercury would pass right through to be collected on the other side. I would not do this (sounds over the top risky), but maybe this is a job for Mythbusters.
2007-01-09 04:38:43 · answer #1 · answered by James H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keeping it in a sealed glass jar is fine; that's why a mercury thermometer is fine to have in the house as long as it isn't broken. And it's safe to touch mercury for a second, although it's not recommended. Still, I know people that used to play with liquid mercury, pushing it around on a table and so forth, and they didn't have any lasting effects. But we know more about it now, and you should certainly avoid touching it if you can. Prolonged exposure can lead to serious neurological disorders and death.
Mercury boils at 357 °C, so it doesn't evaporate easily at room temperature. However, it reacts fairly easily with atmospheric oxygen at slightly elevated temperatures, which may cause the appearance (but not the actuality) of evaporation at temperatures below its boiling point.
2007-01-09 11:16:26 · answer #2 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's an old saying, "It was a chilly day for Willie the day the mercury went down." It is a pun indicating that swallowing mercury can be fatal. If mercury is spilled (perhaps in a lab with wooden floors?) slow evaporation of the mercury at atmospheric temperatures can present a hazard to those exposed over a period of time. Mercury can amalgamate and embrittle certain metals (including silver and gold rings) and a proper container and cap should be used.
2007-01-09 11:46:21 · answer #3 · answered by Kes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when my brother was in high school chemistry, his teacher gave him a tiny glass jar filled with mercury. I don't know why she gave it to him and it was probably not safe, but we played with it and it was really cool. It would make a pool in your hand, break up and form beads and go back together, you could pass it from person to person..it looked like alex mack on that old tv show..a silver shiny puddle...a girl in his class held it while wearing a gold ring and it stuck to her ring and turned it silver until it wore off...definitely a lot of fun but not sure about the safety.
2007-01-09 11:22:27 · answer #4 · answered by pursuit_of_happyness 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not dangerous if in a liquid form, when in a gaseous state it is extremely hazardous. There are warnings about high mercury levels in some marine flesh, but I 'm not convinced it's something to lose sleep over.
2007-01-09 11:23:49 · answer #5 · answered by lyyman 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can keep it in glass sure - in chemistry we were advised not to touch it as it can get in to your skin. It wouldnt kill you but it could make you sick - and it would be impossible to get it out of your system - medieval alchemists whose bodies have been analysed often had large quantities of mercury in their hair!
*Most toxic version is dimethyl mercury, where it forms a link between the two rings.*
The problem with metals is that once they're in your body its hard if not impossible to get them out - there is no antidote for having metal poisoning.
Oh, and don't travel with it - its illegal to take mercury on a plane because it reacts very enthusiastically with aluminium!
2007-01-09 11:18:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Be careful with that stuff it can supposedly give you cancer.
2007-01-09 11:18:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋