Mercury thermometers are used for domestic, commercial, industrial, as well as research applications. A majority of thermometers rely on the properties of mercury for their prime operations. Some of the daily uses of thermometers include measuring the body temperature of a living being, temperature inside an oven, temperature of meat, etc. Thermometers are one of the most prominent real-life applications that make use of the mercury element to note down and indicate the temperature values of objects or surroundings. Some examples of such applications are given below: 1. There are a number of daily life applications in our real life that make use of mercury. Using mercury in applications that make use of aluminium metal is generally not preferable as mercury quickly forms an amalgam with aluminium and disrupts its protective oxide layer, thereby causing the element to corrode. The containers that are used to hold and transport mercury from one place to another are generally made up of iron as mercury tends to form amalgams with most metallic elements except iron. The electronic configuration of mercury causes it to form weak chemical bonds with other elements and behave like noble gases. Mercury is immune to chemical reactions with most acidic elements. The freezing point of Mercury is equal to -38.8 C, while the boiling point is equal to 356 C. As compared to the conductivity of other metals, mercury is considered to be a relatively poor or mild conductor of heat and electricity. To extract pure Mercury from the mineral cinnabar, the ore is crushed and heated in a furnace till the pure mercury gets vaporized. Mercury is usually found in the mineral cinnabar in the form of mercuric sulfide.

Mercury is one of the rarest elements that are available in Earth’s crust and account for approximately 0.08 parts per million. The surface tension property of mercury is significantly high which enables it to form rounded beads of liquid.

Mercury is the only element that has retained its alchemical name as the modern chemical common name. Mercury is known to be discovered in and around 2000 BCE and India and China are known to be its discovering nations. According to Roman mythology, the name mercury comes from the Roman god mercury who was known for his swiftness.

Mercury is typically placed under the category of transition metal or post-transition metal. Mercury is generally known as liquid silver or quicksilver as it is silver in colour, lustrous, and is the only metallic element that tends to maintain its liquid state at room temperature and standard pressure conditions. The word hydrargyrum has been derived from two Greek words, namely hydor and argyros, meaning water and silver respectively. The element symbol of mercury is Hg, which can be expanded as hydrargyrum. Mercury is a chemical element with an atomic number equal to 80 and an atomic mass equal to 200.59 u.

Mercury waves 9.6