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Hg
Hg symbol for the element mercury .
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amalgamation process
amalgamation process , in particular, a method to extract gold and silver from ores. The ore is crushed and treated with mercury , in which the metal dissolves. The amalgam is heated and the mercury evaporates, leaving pure gold or silver. The process has been criticized as an environmental and occ...
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cinnabar
cinnabar , mineral, the sulfide of mercury, HgS. Deep red in color, it is used as a pigment (see vermilion ), but principally it is a source of the metal mercury. It is mined in Spain, Italy, and in the United States in California. The mercury is obtained from it by roasting, the sulfur combining w...
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Mercury
Mercury in Roman religion, god of commerce and messenger of the gods; identified with the Greek Hermes . He was honored at the Mercuralia, a festival held in May and attended primarily by traders and merchants.
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mercury poisoning
mercury poisoning tissue damage resulting from exposure to more than trace amounts of the element mercury or its compounds. Elemental mercury (the silver liquid familiar from thermometers) is the most common occupational source. Exposure typically comes from inhaling mercury vapors. Inorganic sal...
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amalgam
amalgam , alloy containing mercury . The alloy may be liquid or solid, depending on the proportion of mercury, although all naturally occurring amalgams, i.e., those of gold and silver, are solid. Amalgams are widely used. Silver, gold, and copper amalgams are used in dentistry, and tin amalgam i...
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fulminate
fulminate , any salt of fulminic acid, HONC, a highly unstable compound known only in solution. The term is most commonly applied to the explosive mercury (II) fulminate, also called fulminate of mercury, Hg(ONC) 2 . The pure compound forms white cubic crystals. It is made by the action of nitric ac...
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mercuric chloride
mercuric chloride or mercury (II) chloride, chemical compound, HgCl 2 , a white powder of colorless rhombohedral crystals, somewhat soluble in water. It is also called bichloride of mercury or corrosive sublimate. It is extremely poisonous. Raw egg white may be given as an antidote, since mercu...
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mercury
mercury or quicksilver [from the Roman god Mercury], metallic chemical element; symbol Hg [Lat. hydrargyrum =liquid silver]; at. no. 80; at. wt. 200.59; m.p. -38.842°C; b.p. 356.58°C; sp. gr. 13.55 at 20°C; valence +1 or +2. Mercury was discovered in antiquity, and was known to the...
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inferior planet
inferior planet planet whose orbit lies inside that of the earth. There are two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus. They always seem to be close to the sun in the sky; the greatest elongation of Mercury is 28°, and that of Venus, 47°. For this reason, neither can be seen for more than tw...
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