What is Mercury: Definition and 255 Discussions

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum ( hy-DRAR-jər-əm). A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.
Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide.
Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices, though concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments. Likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers.
Mercury remains in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is also used in fluorescent lighting. Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light, which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light.
Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury (such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury), by inhalation of mercury vapor, or by ingesting any form of mercury.

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  1. A

    How to find the point between Mercury and the Sun so force = 0?

    Homework Statement Find the point between Mercury and the sun at which an object can be placed so that the net gravitational force exerted by Mercury and the sun on this object is 0. Homework Equations Mass of sun = 1.991 x 10^30kg Mass of Mercury = 3.18 x 10^23kg distance between...
  2. K

    Photoelectric effect, mercury vapor lamp

    I had a lab with photoelectric effect and we measured different colors wavelength/frequency by finding stopping voltage vs current. Then we used no color filter and used the mercury vapor lamp and had to find the wavelength which was around 400nm. Questions were why was this wavelength the...
  3. adjacent

    Barometer of Mercury: Weight or Pressure?

    Homework Statement Some websites say that mercury level balances because the weight of the mercury column gets equal to the wight of atmosphere.Is it not the pressure of the mercury column equal to the pressure of the atmosphere. I say this because if the mercury column is wide,the weight of...
  4. C

    Will Submerging a Person in Mercury Harm Them?

    Hi, I’m a non-scientist looking for help with a physics (I think) question regarding a mystery I’m writing. A man is submerged in a very small pool of elemental mercury. He is strapped to bolts at the concrete bottom, so that he will not float. The liquid just covers his body. My...
  5. S

    Vacuum possible from Gaede mercury pump from 1913.

    I am working on a computer simulation for an undergraduate capstone project. In the simulation I am trying to model an experiment done by Moseley and Harling in 1913 described in the paper The Attainment of High Potentials by the Use of Radium found in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of...
  6. X

    Calculate h if the fluid in the manometer is mercury

    Homework Statement A venture flow-meter can be designed as shown in the figure. At position 1 the velocity is 0.5 m/s, and pressure is 1.3 bar. The cross section area at 1 is two times the area at 2. The fluid inside the manometer has a density ρ, and the fluid column has a high...
  7. S

    Trouble looking up values of critical temperature for mercury

    I find values for the critical temperature of mercury, but two values are given; one for Hg (α) and one for Hg (β). Does anyone know what the alpha and beta denotes? Here is the page I am referring to (under section titled "Properties of superconducting elements")...
  8. S

    Pressure measurement in U tube with mercury and water

    Homework Statement Mercury is poured into a U tube. The left arm of the tube has a cross sectional area A_1 of 10 cm^2 and the right arm has a cross sectional area A_2 of 5 cm^2. One hundred grams of water are then poured into the right arm of the tube. A: Determine the length of the...
  9. M

    How does mercury exist in the Sun's presence.

    If the sun is as hot and dangerous as we assume it is, then why does the planet Mercury still exist? Should it not has been thermally eroded away?
  10. S

    Water and mercury volume change with temperature

    Homework Statement Why do frozen water pipes burst? Would a mercury thermometer break if the temperature went below the freezing temperature of mercury? Why or why not? Homework Equations Relation of volume to temperature The Attempt at a Solution Water has its minimum volume at...
  11. marcus

    Ice on Mercury in polar crater shade

    beautiful discovery! http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/29nov_iceonmercury/
  12. U

    What is the Solution to the Mercury Barometer Problem?

    Homework Statement To construct a barometer, a tube of length 1m is filled completely with mercury and is inverted in a mercury cup. The barometer reading on a particular day is 76cm. Suppose a 1m tube is filled with mercury up to 76cm and then closed by a cork. It is inverted in a mercury cup...
  13. A

    Atomic Absorption of Electrons: Mercury

    Homework Statement My class is currently going over electronic energy levels, and the book states that an electron with a kinetic energy of 9.8eV could excited two mercury atoms (first excited state above the ground state of mercury is 4.9) to their first state above the ground state...
  14. B

    Pressure difference between two bulbs measured by a mercury manometer

    The setup is a particular gas thermometer constructed of two gas containing bulbs, each of which is put into a water bath on adjacent sides. The pressure difference between the two bulbs is measured by a mercury manometer. Appropriate reservoirs maintain constant gas volume in the two bulbs...
  15. M

    Solar sailing Mercury into Venus

    At Earth orbit, above the atmosphere, the solar power flux is roughly 1400 watts per square metre. This corresponds to a a pressure of 4.7 \muN per square metre, or roughly one two thousandth of the weight of a paper clip at the Earth's surface. A perfectly reflecting material would feel double...
  16. E

    Solving Puck in Mercury Homework

    Homework Statement A piece of lead has the shape of a hockey puck, with a diameter of 7.5 cm and a height of 2.9 cm. If the puck is placed in a mercury bath, it floats. How deep below the surface of the mercury is the bottom of the lead puck? Homework Equations ρhg=13534 plead=11340...
  17. F

    Geometrical optics - lens floating in mercury

    Homework Statement Consider a thin bi-convex lens with refractive index n which has spherical surfaces with equal radii of curvature r and a measured focal length f. The lens floats horizontally on the surface of liquid mercury so that its lower surface effectively becomes a spherical mirror...
  18. M

    Heat released by mercury while filling up the tube

    1. I have an airless tube connected to a pot full of mercury. After opening the tap, marked as K, mercury grew up by height h and mass m. How much heat was released in this situation? P.S. I do not have any exact numbers or sizes...only variables... 2. Homework Equations none 3. All i did...
  19. grav-universe

    Precession of Mercury: Understanding Direction & Newtonian Gravity

    I am having trouble understanding something about the precession of Mercury. The precession takes place in the same direction of motion as the orbit of the planet, so that the ellipse of the orbit becomes angled slightly more forward over time, right? In a gravity simulator, this amounts to an...
  20. N

    What causes the variation in Mercury's synodic period?

    Hi people, there is something that I try to understand: according to all my sources, the synodic period of Mercury is about 116 Earth days. We can calculate this, since we know that the orbital period of Mercury around the sun is about 88 Earth days, therefore: SynodicPeriod ≈ 1/(1/88 -...
  21. S

    Angular frequency of mercury in U pipe

    Homework Statement A mercury is filled to a U-pipe so that the total length of the mercury is h (no figure given on the question). If the mercury column of one leg of the pipe is pushed then released, the mercury will oscillate with small amplitude. The angular frequency is a...
  22. B

    Expansion of mercury in a thermometer

    I think that I’m doing this problem correctly, but the answer seems a bit unreasonable. Can someone else check my work? A thermometer has a quartz body within which is sealed a total volume of 0.400cm^{3} of mercury. The stem contains a cylindrical hole with a bore diameter of 0.10mm. How far...
  23. D

    Decoding Mercury's Anomalous Precession: Discovering Pre-GR Explanations | [url]

    Does anyone know if anybody had successfully explained mercury’s anomalous precession before GR? The reason I ask is that I recently ran across this paper online. It seems to easy to not have been done after SR but prior to GR. Link: [url]http://toe.sytes.net:65333/planetary%20precession.pdf
  24. C

    What can I do with a CENCO High Pressure Mercury Arc Lamp ?

    What can I do with a "CENCO High Pressure Mercury Arc Lamp"? I'm a high school physics teacher. I inherited a "CENCO High Pressure Mercury Arc Lamp." Are there any useful demos and/or labs I can use this for?
  25. D

    SECCHI Uncovers What? Near Mercury

    Interesting video. Nice stop-action at 2:12 min. I don't believe in aliens, so what might this actually be? Mercury's day side is hot enough (upwards of 800 deg F) to create some serious off-gassing. It's surface gravity is significant at 0.38 g, but it has no atmosphere to speak of...
  26. C

    NASA NASA CME Video Captures Object Hiding Behind Mercury

    Ok fellas, what is it? http://gizmodo.com/5865808/has-nasas-satellite-captured-an-unidentified-object-near-mercury/
  27. X

    Problem involving mercury thermometer

    Homework Statement A mercury thermometer contains 7.5 mL of mercury. If the tube of the thermometer has a cross-sectional area of 1.2 mm2, what should the spacing between the °C marks be? (The volume expansion coefficient for mercury is 1.81 x 10-4 °C−1.) Homework Equations ΔV=βV0ΔT...
  28. U

    What is the observed precession of Mercury?

    The precession of Mercury is presented as one of the threshold moments for general relativity. Are there any publicly available summaries of the classical anomaly? Most refer to a 1947 paper that uses an outdated reference frame. Clemence, G. M. (1947). "The Relativity Effect in Planetary...
  29. C

    Find the gravitational force of the sun on Mercury

    Homework Statement Find the gravitational force of the sun on Mercury M_sun = 1.98892 x10^30 kg M_mercury = 3.3022 x10^23 kg Distance of sun and mercury = R = 6.863 x10^10 G = 6.67 x10^-11 Homework Equations FG = GMsunMmercury/R^2 The Attempt at a Solution I simply plugged...
  30. J

    Heating Mercury Affecting Floating Lead

    Homework Statement A flat, uniform cylinder of lead floats in mercury at 0 degrees Celsius. Will the lead float higher or lower then the mercury temperature is raised? Homework Equations None. The Attempt at a Solution Since the mercury is heated, then the density will be lower...
  31. V

    Mercury rotating the earth in an empty region of the galaxy

    1. A: Homework Statement If the Earth and Mercury happened to be pulled out of the solar system by the gravitational force of a passing neutron star, and then left in orbit about each other in an otherwise empty region of the galaxy, our lovely planet would probably get very cold. But...
  32. G

    Question about a mercury barometer with an imperfect vacuum

    Homework Statement Homework question for a graduate level atmospheric science course: A mercury barometer of height h has an imperfect vacuum above its mercury column so that it measures a surface pressure of 29.80 inches Hg when the true surface pressure is 29.90 inches Hg, and it...
  33. B

    Reason for Loss of Mas of Planet Mercury

    A little over a year ago, I came upon the idea that the eccentricity of Mercury's orbit around the sun creates a tremendously oscillatory solar gravitational force (essentially, massive "solar tides"), which ripped the tectonically dying (now tectonically dead) planet apart.* It also included an...
  34. P

    Solving for the Height of Mercury: Is This Equation Correct?

    Homework Statement The attempt at a solution To find the height of mercury I have used the following equation: P _{gauge}=\rho _{air}\cdot g\cdot h_{air}+\rho _{Hg}\cdot g\cdot h_{Hg} where P _{gauge}=3.75 KPa So I solve for h_{Hg} and get 2.8 cm. I don't think this is...
  35. Z

    N-Body simulation: MERCURY vs. Swift

    I've been hearing that these (MERCURY and Swift codes) are standards for N-Body evolution simulations. Neither of them seem to be currently in development however. Does anyone know if these (or others) are indeed still commonly in use? If anyone has used either or both, could you say a few...
  36. T

    Calculating Rise of Mercury in U-tube with Water

    Homework Statement A simple open U-tube contains mercury. When 12.3 cm of water is poured into the right arm of the tube, how high above its initial level does the mercury rise in the left arm? Homework Equations density of water=1000kg/m^3 density of mercury=13534 kg/m^3 The...
  37. W

    Unlocking the Secret: Transforming Mercury to Gold Using Everyday Materials

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesis_of_precious_metals" I'm no nuclear physicist or anything but with all the tiny bits of nuclear waste we have in all our electronics, paints, materials, etc. it seems that turning mercury to gold would be fairly easy to do with things you would otherwise...
  38. 2

    How did moluculair oxygen devoleped on Mercury?

    Hello, A question about the devolepment of oxygen on Mercury: I learned that all the oxygen (O2) at our planet was formed by photosynthesis of bacteria. So how could oxygen develop on mercury without life?? (Composition of the atmosphere of Mercury...
  39. Z

    Applying Perturbation to Mercury: Understanding Electron Behavior"

    We can apply perturbation to Helium. ıt has two electrons. But Mercury has lots of electrons. in this case, can we apply perturbation to Mercury? How?
  40. C

    Pressures on fluids of mercury and water

    Homework Statement Can someone please explain to me why P3-P1=Pb-Pa? [PLAIN]http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8123/45074508.jpg thank you
  41. L

    Perihelion precession of Mercury

    Hi, It's found it Carroll that r=\frac{L^2}{GM(1+e\cos{((1-\alpha)\phi)}} . He states that this means we've found that during each orbit the perihelion advances by \Delta\phi=2\pi\alpha, I'm not sure that I follow this. Perihelion is the min value of r, and thus should correspond to whenever...
  42. D

    Did Mercury and Gemini use the same capsule?

    I've been looking for information on the design of the Mercury and Gemini capsules. I know that Mercury was a single seater and Gemini a two seater, and I know that the retro rockets were completely different. But other than that the two capsules seem very similar. Was the Gemini capsule a...
  43. P

    Inverted Mercury Rod: Will Gas Pressure Change?

    if i take a thin glass rod sealed at one end fill some gas at 1 atm in it and then add 760mm mercury and invert the rod then will the mercury not fall? also will the pressure of the gas change? i do not see any reason for this to happen! :( Thanks in advance!
  44. T

    Can Mercury Transfer Kinetic Energy Effectively on the Planet Mercury?

    I'm having zero luck finding out details about how Mercury can transfer kinetic energy. Any Details are fine. Math is better. Does it transfer Kinetic energy well?
  45. L

    Solve Mercury's Perihelion Shift with Euler-Lagrange Equation

    Homework Statement I need to calculate S in order to calculate the perihelion shift of Mercury. I have found the Euler Lagrange equation to be: G^{\nu\beta}(\partial_{\beta}S)(\partial_{\nu}S)-m^{2}=0 Which is a form of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. Which my professor tells me is...
  46. Z

    Mercury Displacement in a Sealed Tube: Isothermal vs. Adiabatic Processes

    Homework Statement A thin tube, sealed at both ends, is 1 m long. It lies horizontally, the middle 10 cm containing mercury at the two equal ends containing air at standard atmospheric pressure. If the tube is now turned to a vertical position, by what amount will the mercury be displaced...
  47. nukeman

    Stargazing *Question about Mercury, and viewing it from various view (binoculars to hubble)

    Hi guys, Im just starting to get into viewing. I have a question about Mercury though. Can someone give me an idea of what mercury looks like from the Naked eye, binoculars, telescope, and hubble. Mainly I am trying to get what variations in colour, texture, surface details/features, are...
  48. T

    Calculating Altitude Using Barometer and Thermometer Readings

    I am no sure how to do this question? Do I have to use steam tables?
  49. L

    Volume question (freshwater, saltwater, mercury)

    1. Rank the following from most to least for the percentage of its volume above the water line: a. Basketing floating in freshwater b. Basketball floating in saltwater c. Basketball floating in mercury 2. N/A 3. I believe A=B=C, correct? It only asks for "percentage of...
  50. Pengwuino

    Mercury precession with naive GR

    The problem is to calculate the precession of Mercury using a naive approach: {{d(\gamma m \vec v)} \over {dt}} = {-GmM \over {r^2}} So apparently a Lagrangian of the form - mc^2 \sqrt {c^2 - \dot r^2 - r^2 \dot \theta ^2 } - {{Gmm} \over r} gives us a Lagrangian that obeys the previous...
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