mercury

Introduction
Properties, uses, and occurrence
Principal compounds

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

A periodic table element box for mercury shows its symbol Hg, atomic number 80, atomic weight 200.592, electron configuration, and name. Icons indicate mercury is a transition metal, liquid at room temperature, has a rhombohedral crystal structure, and is weakly basic.

Explore an interactive periodic table of the elements

Line graph showing the first ionization energies of the elements as a function of atomic number, with peaks at noble gases like helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon, and labeled elements at key points.

A vertical temperature scale shows the cryogenic region, highlighted from absolute zero up to about 90 kelvin, with key points where gases like oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and helium liquefy, alongside temperature conversions between kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Rankine.

At a Glance

mercury summary

Quizzes

Concept artwork on the periodic table of elements.

118 Names and Symbols of the Periodic Table Quiz

Periodic Table of the elements concept image (chemistry)

Facts You Should Know: The Periodic Table Quiz

Related Questions

At what temperature does mercury boil?
At what temperature does mercury freeze?
How did Pliny the Elder describe the recovery of quicksilver?
How did mercury contamination affect seabirds and cats in Minamata?
How did mercury get the chemical symbol Hg?
How did mercury’s high density make it useful in barometers and manometers?
How did mercury’s toxicity change the ways it was used in medicine and industry?
How did the mercury oxide experiment help Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Joseph Priestley study oxygen?
How do mercury-vapour lamps produce bluish light rich in ultraviolet radiation?
How does mercury poisoning occur through vapour inhalation or skin absorption?
How has mercury-198 been used as a wavelength standard?
How has mercury(II) sulfide been used as a pigment?
How has silver-mercury amalgam been used in dental fillings?
How was cinnabar used as a red pigment in history?
How was mercury once used to extract gold and silver from ores?
How was mercury used in the production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide?
What are the atomic number and chemical symbol of mercury?
What colour is cinnabar?
What happened during the Minamata disease outbreak in Japan?
What symptoms can result from long-term exposure to mercury vapour?
Where are cinnabar deposits commonly found?
Where is mercury found in Earth’s crust?
Which mineral is the principal ore of mercury?
Which organs are most harmed by acute mercury poisoning?
Why are mercury(II) compounds more common than mercury(I) compounds?
Why can crushing cinnabar ore cause losses during flotation?
Why did some California American Indians become ill after using cinnabar in war paint?
Why do large predatory fish tend to contain more mercury than smaller fish?
Why does liquid mercury form rounded droplets on glass instead of sticking to it?
Why does mercury not release hydrogen from dilute acids as zinc and cadmium do?
Why is mercury the only elemental metal that is liquid at room temperature?
Why is mercury useful in sealed electrical switches and relays?
Why is underground mining commonly used for mercury ore deposits?
Why must mercury vapour be condensed during mercury extraction?
Why was mercury called quicksilver in the past?
When did science begin?
Where was science invented?
What is platinum used for?
Where are the largest deposits of platinum?
What are the properties of platinum?

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External Websites

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety - Mercury
UC Berkeleyï¿½s Rausser College of Natural Resources - Mercury
Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program - Mercury: Element of the Ancients
Chemicool - Mercury Element Facts
United States Enviromental Protection Agency - Basic Information about Mercury
CAMEO Chemicals - Mercury
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Mercury Exposure and Heart Diseases
Government of Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada - Learn about mercury
Royal Society of Chemistry - Mercury
ACS Publications - ACS Omega - The Toxicity of Mercury and Its Chemical Compounds: Molecular Mechanisms and Environmental and Human Health Implications: A Comprehensive Review
Lenntech - Mercury - Hg
World Health Organization - Mercury

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

mercury - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
mercury - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

mercury

chemical element

Also known as: Hg, quicksilver

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 17, 2026 •History

mercury (Hg), chemical element, liquid metal of Group 12 (IIb, or zinc group) of the periodic table. atomic number80 atomic weight200.592 melting point−38.83 °C (−37.89 °F) boiling point356.62 °C (673.91 °F) specific gravity13.5 at 20 °C (68 °F) valence1, 2 electron configuration2-8-18-32-18-2 or (Xe)4f¹⁴5d¹⁰6s² Mercury was known in Egypt and also probably in the East as early as 1500 bce. The name mercury originated in 6th-century alchemy, in which the symbol of the planet...

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