mercury

Mercury Leonel Villalona

Name, Symbol, Number Mercury, Hg, 80

Element Category ** [|Transition metal] **

** [|12] **, [|6] , [|d]
 * Group, Period, Block**

[|**Atomic number & atomic weight**] ** [|200.59][|(2)] **  [|g·mol−1]

Electron Configuration [ [|Xe] ] 4f14 5d10 6s2

Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 2

Physical property

Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white metal. As compared to other metals, it is a poor conductor of heat, but a fair conductor of electricity. Mercury has an exceptionally low melting temperature for a d-block metal. Such configuration strongly resists removal of an electron; mercury behaves similarly to [|noble gas] elements, which form weakly bonded and thus easily melting solids.

Chemical property

Mercury is moderately active. It does not react with **oxygen** in the air very readily. It reacts with some acids when they are hot, but not with most cold acids.

History

[|Alchemists] thought of mercury as the [|First Matter] from which all metals were formed. They believed that different [|metals] could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of [|sulfur] contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was called for in attempts at the [|transmutation] of base metals into gold, which was the goal of many alchemists. Hg is the modern [|chemical symbol] for mercury. It comes from //hydrargyrum//, a [|Latinized] form of the [|Greek] word. Which is a compound word meaning "water" and "silver", since it is liquid, like water, and yet has a silvery metallic sheen. The element was named after the Roman god [|Mercury], known for speed and mobility. It is associated with the planet [|Mercury], the astrological symbol for the planet is also one of the [|alchemical symbols] for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name became the common name.

Present use Medicine-Mercury and its compounds have been used in medicine, although they are much less common today than they once were, now that the toxic effects of mercury and its compounds are more widely understood. The element mercury is an ingredient in [|dental amalgams]. [|Thiomersal] (called //Thimerosal// in the United States) is an [|organic compound] used as a [|preservative] in [|vaccines], though this use is in decline. Another mercury compound Mercurochrome is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes is still in use in some countries. Cosmetics-Mercury, as thiomersal, is widely used in the manufacture of mascara. In 2008, Minnesota became the first state in the US to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics, giving it a tougher standard than the federal government.

Gold-Historically, mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water-gravel mixture. Thin mercury particles may form mercury-gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates. Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s. However, mercury is still used in small scale, often clandestine, gold prospection. It is estimated that 45,000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered. Mercury was also used in silver mining.