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Oxidation & Electrons | Appearance & Characteristics Reactions | Compounds | Radius | Conductivity Abundance & Isotopes 
Mercury drops. |
General:
| Name: Mercury | Symbol: Hg |
| Type: Transition Metal | Atomic weight: 200.59 |
| Density @ 293 K: 13.546 g/cm3 | Atomic volume: 14.82 cm3/mol |
| Discovered: Mercury or quicksilver has been known since ancient times. Mercury was known to ancient Chinese and Hindus and has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 1500 B.C. The element's name comes from the Roman messenger god, Mercury, who was known for his speed and mobility. Its chemical symbol, Hg, is an abbreviation of the Latin word 'hydrargyrum', meaning liquid silver. | |
States
| State (s, l, g): liquid | |
| Melting point: 234.32 K (-38.83 oC) | Boiling point: 629.88 K (356.73 oC) |
Energies
| Specific heat capacity: 0.139 J g-1 K-1 | Heat of atomization: 64 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of fusion: 2.295 kJ mol-1 | Heat of vaporization: 59.229 kJ mol-1 |
| 1st ionization energy: 1007 kJ mol-1 | 2nd ionization energy: 1810 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd ionization energy: 3300 kJ mol-1 | Electron affinity: kJ mol-1 |
Oxidation & Electrons
| Shells: 2,8,18,32,18,2 | Electron configuration: [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 |
| Minimum oxidation number: 0 | Maximum oxidation number: 2 |
| Min. common oxidation no.: 0 | Max. common oxidation no.: 2 |
| Electronegativity (Pauling Scale): 2 | Polarizability volume: 5.4 Å3 |
Appearance & Characteristics
| Structure: rhombohedral | Color: silvery-white |
| Hardness: 1.5 mohs | |
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Harmful effects:
Mercury and most of its compounds are highly toxic. The pure metal is absorbed easily by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin. It is also a chronic pollutant and mercury concentrates in animal/fish tissues in increasing amounts up the food chain. Characteristics: Mercury is a dense, silvery-white, poisonous metal with a mirror-like appearance. It is the only common metal that is liquid at room temperature. Mercury evaporates slowly at room temperature. Others metals that are liquid near room temperature are gallium, francium and cesium. The metal is relatively stable in dry air, but in moist air tarnishes slowly to form a gray oxide coating. Mercury has high surface tension and, when spilled, breaks up into tiny beads. Mercury readily forms alloys (called amalgams) with other metals, such as silver, gold and tin. As it does not amalgamate with iron, mercury is often stored in iron containers. Uses: Mercury is used in barometers and manometers (instruments for measuring the pressure of gases and liquids), because of its high density. The metal also has a high rate of nearly linear thermal expansion, so it is used extensively in thermometers. Its ease in amalgamating with metals is made use of in extracting gold, silver, and platinum from their ores. Mercury is widely used in making advertising signs, mercury switches and other electrical apparatus. It is also used in mercury-vapor lamps (which emit light rich in ultraviolet radiation). These lamps are typically used for street lighting, as sun lamps, and as UV lights (black lights). Various compounds of mercury are used in medicine, dentistry, cosmetics (mascara) and also in agriculture to make fungicides. |
Reactions
| Reaction with air: none, w/ht 350 oC ⇒ HgO | Reaction with 6 M HCl: none |
| Reaction with 3 M HNO3: mild, ⇒ Hg(NO3)2 (mercuric nitrate), NOx | Reaction with 6 M NaOH: none |
Compounds
| Oxide(s): HgO (mercuric oxide), Hg2O (mercurous oxide) | Chloride(s): HgCl2, Hg2Cl2 |
| Hydride(s): none |
Radius
| Atomic radius: 151 pm | Ionic radius (1+ ion): 133 pm |
| Ionic radius (2+ ion): 116 pm | Ionic radius (3+ ion): pm |
| Ionic radius (2- ion): pm | Ionic radius (1- ion): pm |
Conductivity
| Thermal conductivity: 8.3 W m-1 K-1 | Electrical conductivity: 1 x 106 S m-1 |
Abundance & Isotopes
| Abundance earth's crust: 85 parts per billion by weight, 9 parts per billion by moles | |
| Abundance solar system: 20 parts per billion by weight, 120 parts per trillion by moles | |
| Cost, pure: $5 per 100g | |
| Cost, bulk: $0.51 per 100g | |
| Source: Mercury rarely occurs free in nature, but can be found in ores, mainly mercury sulfide (cinnabar, HgS). The metal is extracted by roasting cinnabar in an air current. The resulting mercury vapor is condensed to collect the liquid metal. | |
| Isotopes: Mercury has 34 isotopes whose half-lives are known, with mass numbers 175 to 208. Of these, six are stable, 196Hg, 198Hg, 199Hg, 200Hg, 201Hg and 202Hg. The most abundant naturally forming isotope is 202Hg is at 29.86%. | |
