Mercury Chemical Element Properties: Lesson for Kids
When you picture something made of metal, what do you think of? Perhaps a tool like a hammer or screwdriver. Maybe you imagine a car, or the blade of a knife. Jewelry is made of metal, and so is the aluminum foil in our kitchen drawer. In reality, there are many types of strong and useful metals, making up countless products in our world.
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However, there is one metal that has the most unique properties of any in the world. You can't make a piece of jewelry from it, nor can you use it to pound a nail. It is shiny like other metals, but not solid! Often called ''liquid silver,'' it is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. It is mercury, and although it is fascinating, it's also deadly. Join us as we explore this very unusual substance.
Mercury, also nicknamed ''quicksilver,'' is an element. An element is a pure substance found on, in or around Earth that cannot be broken down into smaller parts. There are 118 unique elements that make up literally everything on Earth and in our atmosphere.
If you look on a periodic table of elements, can you find mercury? It is a bit tricky, because its symbol (Hg) looks nothing like its name. Why Hg? This abbreviation comes from the Latin term hydrargyrum, literally meaning ''watery silver.'' And it's no coincidence that this element shares its name with a planet: it was named after the planet Mercury.
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Mercury is in a group of elements called transition metals. These metals have properties that make them malleable, or able to be made into different shapes. However, since mercury is a liquid, it can't be shaped like other metals. Transition metals are also very good at conducting electricity and heat.
Another property of mercury makes it sound like a rock band: it is a heavy metal, literally. It is also extremely dense, meaning that its particles are packed very tightly together. In fact, mercury is so dense that if you placed chunks of lead or silver in it, they would float!
Since mercury is great at conducting electricity, it has been used for electrical switches, and in lamps and light bulbs. It was once commonly used in thermometers and is still used to make barometers. At one time, if a household thermometer containing mercury broke, people would play with the liquid metal. It was also commonly used in hat making. However, it has been since discovered that exposure to this element has deadly consequences.
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Although we have extremely tiny amounts of mercury inside our bodies, larger amounts are toxic - exposure to mercury can cause poisoning. This can happen if mercury vapor is inhaled, as was the case when people used mercury to make hats. These individuals' behavior got very strange as they started to tremble and became paranoid. Many seemed to go crazy, even inspiring the famous ''Mad Hatter'' character from Alice in Wonderland.
Mercury can also build up in certain fish and shellfish, and eating too much can be unhealthy. Most importantly, although it looks fun to play with, never touch mercury if you see it.
Mercury (Hg) is an element called a transition metal and is the only metal found as a liquid at room temperature. It is very heavy and dense. Mercury is extremely poisonous, with many people becoming very sick after being exposed.
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