Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC. The liquid element mercury was isolated by the ancient Chinese and the Egyptians, probably from the mineral cinnabar (mercuric sulfide).
Name: Mercury
Symbol: Hg
Atomic number: 80
Atomic weight: 200.59
State: liquid
Group, period, block: 12, 6, d
Color: silvery
Classification: transition metal
Electron configuration: 4f14 5d10 6s2
2,8,18,32,18,2
Physical properties
Density: 13.534 g/cm-3
Melting point: 234.32 K,-38.83 °C,-37.89 °F
Boiling point: 629.88 K,356.73 °C,674.11 °F
Atomic properties
Oxidation states: 4, 2 (mercuric), 1 (mercurous)
Electronegativity: 2.00 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies: 1st: 1007.1 kJ·mol-1
Covalent radius: 132±5 pm
Van der Waals radius: 155 pm
- Hg
Electron Configuration
Isotopes
There are seven naturally occurring isotopes of mercury exist, 196Hg, 198Hg, 199Hg, 200Hg, 201Hg, 202Hg, and 204Hg.