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Mercury (IPA: /’m?rkj?ri/), also called quicksilver[1] or hydrargyrum, is a chemical element with the symbol Hg (Latinized Greek: hydrargyrum, meaning watery or liquid silver) and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is one of six elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure.[2] The others are the elements caesium, francium, gallium, bromine, and rubidium. Of the metals, only mercury is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure with the melting point of -38.83°C and the boiling point of 356.73°C, making it one of the narrowest liquid range of any metals.
Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, and other scientific apparatus, though concerns about the element’s toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favour of alcohol-filled, digital, or thermistor-based instruments. It remains in use in a number of other ways in scientific and scientific research applications, and in amalgam material for dental restoration. Mercury is mostly obtained by reduction from the mineral cinnabar. Mercury is also used in fluorescent lamps. Electricity is passed through mercury vapor to produce short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor coated on the inside of the tube to fluoresce, making visible light.
Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world. It is harmless in an insoluble form, such as mercuric sulfide[citation needed], but mercury poisoning can result from exposure to soluble forms (such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury), inhalation of mercury vapour, or eating fish contaminated with mercury.
Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese[3] and was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC.[4] In China and Tibet, mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain generally good health. One of China’s emperors, Qín Shi Huáng Dì — allegedly buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury on a model of the land he ruled, representative of the rivers of China — was killed by drinking a mercury and powdered Jade mixture (causing liver failure, poisoning, and brain death) intended to give him eternal life.[5] The ancient Greeks used mercury in ointments; the ancient Egyptians and the Romans used it in cosmetics which sometimes deformed the face. By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams with other metals. The Indian word for alchemy is Rasavatam which means “the way of mercury”.
Alchemists often 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 (or impure) metals into gold as 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 ?d?a?????? (hydrargyros), 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.
There are seven stable isotopes of mercury with Hg-202 being the most abundant (29.86%). The longest-lived radioisotopes are 194Hg with a half-life of 444 years, and 203Hg with a half-life of 46.612 days. Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half-lives that are less than a day. 199Hg and 201Hg are the most often studied NMR-active nuclei, having spins of 1/2 and 3/2 respectively.
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