Mercury information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
Mercury is a Block D, Group 12, Period 6 element. The electronic
configuration is [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2.
In its elemental form mercury's CAS number is 7439-97-6. The mercury atom has a radius of
216.pm and
it's Van der Waals radius is 155.pm.
Mercury has been known since ancient times.
mercure |
Quecksilber |
mercurio |
Mercúrio |
mercurio |
Kvicksilver |
Mercury Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of
mercury and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
|
Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
Hg-196 |
195.965815 |
0.15 |
Hg-198 |
197.966752 |
9.97 |
Hg-199 |
198.968262 |
16.87 |
Hg-200 |
199.968309 |
23.10 |
Hg-201 |
200.970285 |
13.18 |
Hg-202 |
201.970626 |
29.86 |
Hg-204 |
203.973476 |
6.87 |
Mercury Safety Data.
The safety data for mercury metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for
mercury (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
|
1st Ionization Energy |
1007.07 kJ mol-1 |
2nd Ionization Energy |
1809.69 kJ mol-1 |
3rd Ionization Energy |
3299.82 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to
mercury's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured in terms of electrical resistivity @
20 ºC is 95.8 µOcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is
1.9. The thermal conductivity of
mercury is 8.34 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties
of Mercury. The melting point and boiling point for mercury are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
|
Heat of Fusion |
2.331 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Vaporization |
59.11 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Atomization |
64.463 kJ mol-1 |
|