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Mercury 80Hg200.59
Known to ancient civilization.
[Named after the planet Mercury; Latin: hydrargyrum = liquid silver]
French: mercure
German: Quecksilber
Italian: mercurio
Spanish: mercurio
Description: Mercury is
liquid, silvery metal. It is stable in air and with water, and is
unreactive toward acids (except concentrated HNO3) and alkalis. Merury is used in the electrolysis
cell for the manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide by means of the
electrolysis of brine, but is being phased out in favour of alternatives.
Mercury is used in street lights, fungicides, electrical apparatus, etc.
Materials properties
| Density: |
13 546 kg/m-3 [293 K] |
| Melting point: |
234.28 °K |
| Boiling point: |
629.73 °K |
| Critical temperature: |
1750 °K |
| Critical pressure: |
172 000 KPa |
| Molar volume: |
14.81 cm3 |
| Thermal conductivity: |
8.34 [300 K] Wm-1K-1 |
| Coefficient of linear thermal expansion: |
18.1 x 10-5 K-1 |
| Electrical resistivity: |
94.1 x 10-8 [273 K] Wm |
| Mass magnetic susceptibility: |
-2.095 x 10-9(l) kg-1m3 |
| Radii: |
Ng2+ 112; Ng+127; atomic 160; covalent 144 |
| Electronegativity: |
2.00 (Pauling); 1.44 (Allred); 4.91 eV (absolute) |
| Effective nuclear charge: |
4.35 (Slater); 11.15 (Clementi); 16.22 (Froese-Fischer) |
| Number of Isotopes (incl. nuclear isomers): |
37 |
| Issotope mass range: |
178 -> 206 |
Biological data
| Biological role: |
None, although it is present in everything we eat. |
| Toxicity |
|
| Toxic intake: |
(metal vapour, human exposure) = 44 mg m-3 (8 hours) |
| Lethal intake: |
LD50(metal vapour, inhalation, rabbit) = 29 mg m-3 (30 hours). |
| Hazards: |
Mercury vapour is poisonous by inhalation and should not exceed 0.1 mg m-3 in air. All mercury compounds are toxic, methyl mercury extremely so. Mercury affects the central nervous system and is teratogenic. |
| Level in humans |
|
| Blood: |
0.0078 mg dm-3 |
| Bone: |
0.45 p.p.m. |
| Liver: |
0.018 - 3.7 p.p.m. |
| Muscle: |
0.02 - 0.7 p.p.m. |
| Daily dietary intake : |
0.004 - 0.02 mg |
| Total mass of element in average [70 kg] person: |
6 mg |
Crystal data
| Crystal structure, (cell dimentions / pm), space group |
α-Hg rhombohedral (a = 299.25 α=70° 44.6' ), R3m β-Hg tetragonal (a=399.5,c=282.5), I4/mmm α -> β high pressure |
| X-ray diffraction: mass absorption coefficients (µ/ρ)/cm2g-1: |
CuKα 216 MoKα 117 |
| Neutron scattering length, b/10-12cm: |
1.266 |
| Thermal neutron capture cross-section, σa/barns: |
374 |
Geological data
| Minerals: |
Native mercury occurs naturally as tiny drops of the liquid metal usually associated with cinnabar deposits but also found in some volcanic rocks. |
| Mineral |
Formula |
Density |
Hardness |
Crystal apperance |
| Cinnabar |
HgS |
8.09 |
2 - 2.5 |
rhom. microcrystalline, scarlet mass |
| Chief ore: |
cinnabar |
| World production: |
8400 tonnes/year |
| Main mining areas: |
Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia. |
| Reserves: |
590 000 tonnes |
| Specimen: |
available as liquid of varying grades of purity of up to 99.9999%. Warning! |
| Abundances |
|
| Sun: |
<125 (relative to H = 1 x 1023) |
| Earth's crust: |
0.05 p.p.m. |
| Seawater: |
|
| Atlantic surface: |
4.9 x 10-7 p.p.m. |
| Atlantic deep: |
4.9 x 10-7 p.p.m. |
| Pacific surface: |
3.3 x 10-7 p.p.m. |
| Pacific deep: |
3.3 x 10-7 p.p.m. |
| Residence time: |
n.a. |
| Classification: |
scavenged |
| Oxidation state: |
II |
Other sizes and specifications on request
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