Mercury

Occurrence, isolation & synthesis


Silvery white liquid metal. Solid mercury is tin white, ductile and malleable [7].

Occurrence


In nature, mercury is found in the Earth's crust, 0.5 ppm [7]. The isotopes found in nature are 196Hg (0.146 %, stable), 198Hg (10.02 %, stable), 199Hg (16.84%, stable), 200Hg (23.13 %, stable), 201Hg (13.22 %, stable), 202Hg (29.80 %, stable) and 204Hg (6.85 %, stable) [7].

In pure solid form, mercury exist in a rhombic crystal structure [2].