The Eightieth Element Mercury

Mercury is inarguably one of the most, if not the most, captivating metals on the periodic table because of its unorthodox existence as well as its properties. The element mercury is a highly intricate metal that’s composition, history, and presence in modern science has keep it so prevalent for thousands of years until recently. In this essay, one will examine all components of mercury, both physical and chemical, as well as its history and modern life, in order to paint the reader a much more heightened and detailed picture of the eightieth element. In order to fully understand mercury and all of it complexities as well as, simply put, quirks, starting from the basics is crucial. Mercury, symbol Hg, is listed as number eighty on the periodic table, and has a mass of 200.592 atomic mass units (AMU); coincidentally, mercury has eighty protons as well as electrons by default. This number of electrons, more specifically valence electrons, makes mercury easily bondable with other elements, “namely gold, silver, and zinc” (Jefferson Lab, The Element Mercury). By subtracting the atomic number, 80, from the elements mass in AMU, Mercury is known to have 121 neutrons. As with almost every other element, the number of neutrons in this element differs either giving it a

Stuart, Mercury, Chemicool). In compliance with these figures, mercury has a most unique state of matter at room temperature for a metal, liquid. Its lustrous silver color is the namesake of mercury, as well as its movability, because of its similarities to the planet, “with both names meaning quicksilver” (Agata Blaszczak-Boxe, 10 Uncommon Facts About Mercury). The irrefutably most important chemical property of this metal is its toxicity, especially to humans, which is where ‘mercury poisoning’ coins from. It also forms bonds with other heavy metals of-the-like