Mercury

Transition metal · atomic number 80

80200.5923HgMercuryLiquidTransition metal

Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (/haɪˈdrɑːrdʒərəm/). A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.

Properties of Mercury

Element category	Transition metal
Atomic number	80
Atomic mass	200.5923 u
Phase at STP	Liquid
Group	12
Period	6
Block	d
Electron configuration	[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 2
Electronegativity (Pauling)	2
Melting point	234.321 K (-39 °C)
Boiling point	629.88 K (357 °C)
Density	13.534 g/cm3
Discovered by	unknown, before 2000 BCE

← Gold · Periodic table · Thallium → Tl

About the transition metal group

The dense, strong, catalytic heart of the table — iron, copper, gold, titanium — responsible for most of metallurgy, jewellery and industry.

Data: Periodic-Table-JSON (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically on our server. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury (Element)

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⚛️ Full periodic table

All 118 chemical elements on one interactive, colour-coded table, each linking to a fact file and plain-language summary.

🧪 Reactive nonmetal

11 elements: Elements that readily gain or share electrons — the building blocks of water, air, living tissue and most organic chemistry.

🧪 Noble gas

6 elements: Full outer electron shells make these gases almost inert: they barely react, glow in discharge lamps and are used to create unreactive atmospheres.

🧪 Alkali metal

6 elements: Soft, wildly reactive metals of group 1 — they fizz in water and never occur pure in nature. Lithium, sodium, potassium and friends.

🧪 Alkaline earth metal

6 elements: Reactive group-2 metals a step calmer than the alkalis: magnesium, calcium and the structural and biological workhorses among them.

🧪 Transition metal

35 elements: The dense, strong, catalytic heart of the table — iron, copper, gold, titanium — responsible for most of metallurgy, jewellery and industry.

🧪 Post-transition metal

9 elements: Softer, lower-melting metals beside the transition block — aluminium, tin, lead — abundant in cans, foils, solders and pigments.

🧪 Metalloid

7 elements: In-between elements that behave as semiconductors: silicon, germanium and boron underpin electronics, glass and solar cells.

🧪 Lanthanide

15 elements: The rare-earth “inner transition” metals that give strong permanent magnets, screen phosphors and catalyst polish.

🧪 Actinide

15 elements: Mostly radioactive, heavy metals — several made only in reactors — whose fission powers nuclear energy and weapons.

🧪 Unknown properties

8 elements: Superheavy synthetic elements made atom-by-atom, existing for fractions of a second; their true chemistry is still unmeasured.