![]() A major application today is fluorescent lamps and mercury vapor lamps. Due to its high density and thermal expansion characteristics, it is used in measuring instruments such as thermometers and barometers. Mercury is used in a variety of applications, but is being phased out of some of them due to health issues. Today, the majority of mercury is mined in China and Kyrgyzstan. Spain mined mercury in order to use it in their mining process for silver in South America. Most mercury today is produced from the mining of cinnabar, a bright red ore.įor many years Spain and Italy were the largest producers of mercury. It is sometimes found in its free state, but is usually found in ores such as cinnabar, livingstonite, and corderoite. Mercury is a very rare element found in the Earth's crust. Iron is one of the few exceptions and, as a result, is often used to store mercury. ![]() When mercury comes into contact with other metals, it dissolves them and forms a new substance called an amalgam. Mercury is very poisonous and can be absorbed by humans through the air, skin, or by eating food with mercury. It will evaporate into the air at room temperature. It is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature. Under standard conditions mercury is a shiny, heavy, silvery liquid. ![]() Mercury atoms have 80 electrons and 80 protons with 122 neutrons in the most abundant isotope. ![]() Mercury is the third element in the twelfth column of the periodic table.
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