Mercury, Physical and Chemical Properties

Physical Properties

Mercury is a silvery-white, shiny metal, which is liquid at room temperature.

Atomic number	80
Atomic weight	200.59
Melting point, °C	−38.89
Boiling point at 101.3 kPa, °C	357.3
Density at 0°C, g/cm3	13.5956
Relative abundance, %	5 × 10−5
Specific heat capacity at 0°C, J g−1 K−1	0.1397
Heat of fusion, j/g	11.807
Heat of evaporation at 357.3°C, kJ/mol	59.453
Thermal conductivity at 17°C, W cm−1 K−1	0.082
Thermal expansion coefficient at 0–100°C, K−1	1.826 × 10−4
Electrical conductivity at 0°C, m Ω−1 mm−2	1.063 × 10−4
Crystal structure	Rhombohedral
Viscosity at 0°C, mPa·s	1.685
Surface tension, N/cm	480.3 × 10−5

Due to its high surface tension, mercury has the ability to wet metals. When the solubility limit of a metal in mercury is exceeded, mercury still can wet the metal forming a thick silvery amalgam paste. Strictly speaking, an amalgam is a solution of a metal in mercury and a quasi-amalgamis a metal wetted by mercury after the solubility limit has been...