Origin
Mercury is known to ancient Chinese and Hindus; found in Egyptian tombs of 1500 B.C. It had no known discoverer. The Chinese used its ore cinnabar as paint because of its beautiful red tone for 3,000 years. The origin of Mercury’s name is after the planet Mercury. It’s symbol Hg, comes from the Latin word hydrargyrum which means liquid silver.

Backround
Mercury is the only common metal liquid at ordinary temperatures. Mercury is also called quicksilver because its liquid silver. Organic mercury compounds are important and dangerous. Methyl mercury is a lethal pollutant found in rivers and lakes. Mercury is 13.5 times as heavy as the volume of water. It was one of the first metals ever found. Mercury makes 83 parts per billion of the world’s surface rocks, just a little more plentiful than gold.

Basic Data
If mercury’s ore cinnabar is heated in a glass tube the powder turns black and begins to turn into oxygen glass and mercury forms at the bottom. Mercury was named after the planet Mercury. Mercury’s chemical symbol comes from the Greek word hydrargyrum which means “liquid silver.” Small amounts of mercury spillage can be cleaned up by addition of sulphur powder. Mercury is a poor conductor of heat, but a decent conductor of electricity.

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What it's used for today
Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, thermostats, silent wall switches, florescent bulbs, pestisides, batteries, mercury vapor lamps, dental preparations, diffusion pumps, antifouling paints, pigments, and catalysts. Mercury is very important because without it we wouldn’t have any of these things.

Transportation through the world
Mercury is released into the air, water, and land and it cycles between them due to its ability to change forms. Mercury gets into the soil through natural breakdown of rocks, disposal of mercury in landfills, and atmospheric deposition. It enters the water through runoff, atmospheric deposition, and when mercury from products is poured down the drain. Mercury is released to the atmosphere through coal-fired utility, chlor-alkali plant, and incinerator emissions, as well as evaporation from water and land. Once mercury enters this cycle, it can remain in the environment for years as it accumulates. It can’t be removed, but it can be prevented from ever entering the environment.

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Important alloys and compounds
Mercury easily forms alloys with other metals, such as gold, silver, zinc and cadmium. These alloys are called amalgams. Amalgams are used to help extract gold from its ores, create dental fillings when you use silver and help extend the life of dry cell batteries when you use zinc and cadmium. Mercuric Chloride is a very poisonous salt that has been used to clean and disinfect wounds, it’s also an antiseptic used to kill bacteria. Mercuric oxide is used to make mercury batteries.

Hazards
Mercury is extremely toxic. When mercury is eaten its almost completely absorbed into the blood and distributed to all tissues including the brain and the fetus. Pregnant women aren’t supposed to eat tuna fish because of the mercury in it which goes into the fetus and causes birth defects. One of the first symptoms of mercury poisoning is parethesia which is the numbing of fingers, toes and lips. If the exposure continues it can cause appetite loss, weight loss, personality change, loss of memory, psychological distress and gingivitis. Young children are also at greatest risk from exposure to mercury because of their small size and vulnerability of their developing nervous system.

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