LORENA LÓPEZ Y GAEL MÁRQUEZ 2G

MERCURY
NAME: Mercury CHARACTERISTICS MOST COMMON COMPOUNDS:
SYMBOL: Hg State at room metallic mercury, mercuric sulphide,
ATOMIC NUMBER: 80 temperature:liquid mercuric chloride, mercuric oxide,
MASS NUMBER: 200.59 Density:13’6g/cm³ mercuric nitrate and methylmercury.
Electrical conduction: good
Heat conduction: bad
PERIOD: 6 Thermometers used to be made of MAIN APPLICATIONS: Mercury as a metal is used for
GROUP: 12 mercury but are currently banned
extraction of gold and silver, as a catalyst for chlor-alkali
because it is poisonous and bad for
your health. production, in manometers for measuring and controlling
ORIGIN OF MERCURY: The Romans were the pressure, in thermometers, in electrical and electronic
ones who discovered it and called mercury switches, in fluorescent lamps, and in dental amalgam
"Argentum Vivum", which means "liquid silver" fillings.
because it was the only known element that was
liquid at room temperature. DID YOU KNOW?:
But the French chemist Antonie Laurent de Lavoisier • Mercury is a metal that is found naturally in
first identified it as an element during his oceans, rocks, and soils.
investigations into the composition of air. • Breathing in mercury vapors can make you very
sick.