Skip to content

Stephenson:Neal:Cryptonomicon:215:mercury-vapor lamps(Alan Sinder)

(Redirected from Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:4:new quicksilver-filled, sealed-tube thermometers(Alan Sinder))
General
Name, Symbol, Number
Chemical series
Group, Period, Block
Density, Hardness
Appearance
125px-Hg,80b.jpg
Atomic properties
Atomic weight
Atomic radius (calc.)
Covalent radius
van der Waals radius
Electron configuration
e-'s per energy level
Oxidation states (Oxide)
Crystal structure
Physical properties
State of matter
Melting point
Boiling point
Molar volume
Heat of vaporization
Heat of fusion
Vapor pressure
Speed of sound
Miscellaneous
Electronegativity
Specific heat capacity
Electrical conductivity
Thermal conductivity
1st ionization potential
2nd ionization potential
3rd ionization potential
Most stable isotopes
Isotope iso NA half-life DM DE MeV DP
194Hg {syn.} 444 y ε 0.040 194Au
196Hg 0.15% Hg is stable with 116 neutrons
198Hg 9.97% Hg is stable with 118 neutrons
199Hg 16.87% Hg is stable with 119 neutrons
200Hg 23.1% Hg is stable with 120 neutrons
201Hg 13.18% Hg is stable with 121 neutrons
202Hg 29.86% Hg is stable with 122 neutrons
204Hg 6.87% Hg is stable with 124 neutrons

| | SI units & STP are used except where noted. |

Mercury shows up 19 times throughout Cryptonomicon; Have yet to do a count re: quicksilver.

!! Mercury is highly toxic in both liquid and gaseous forms !!

Stephensonia

How do we determine chronological precedence here? This is clearly related to the Logic Mill.      “The empty trucks are disappearing into that darkness. Full ones come out, their headlights emerging from the mist and gloom first, followed by the colorful displays that the drivers have built onto the radiator grilles, followed by the highlights on their chrome and glass, and finally the trucks themselves. Randy's eyes adjust, and he can see now that he is staring into a cavern, lit up by mercury-vapor lamps.      …      "The next machine will have a memory storage system, Lawrence, in the form of sound waves traveling down a cylinder filled with mercury -- we stole the idea from John Wilkins, founder of the Royal Society, who came up with it three hundred years ago, except he was going to use air instead of quicksilver. I -- excuse me, Lawrence, did you say you had been working on them?" … ”

Authored entries

Wikipedia: Mercury (element)

Mercury, also called quicksilver, is a chemical element chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery, toxic, transition metal, mercury is one of only two elements that are liquid at everyday room-temperatures (the other is Bromine) and is used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus. Mercury is mostly obtained by reduction from the mineral cinnabar.

Notable characteristics

Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white univalent and bivalent transition metal that is a relatively poor conductor of heat but a decent conductor of electricity and is the only common metal that is liquid at room temperature (forming an opaque glistening liquid).

Mercury easily forms alloys with almost all common metals, including gold and silver but not iron. Any of these alloys is called an amalgam.

The freezing point of mercury is close to -40° Celsius which is the same as -40° Fahrenheit. This is the only point at which these two temperature scales coincide.

This metal also has uniform volumetric thermal expansion, is less reactive than zinc and cadmium and does not displace hydrogen from acids. Common oxidation states of this element are; mercurous, or +1, and mercuric, or +2. Rare instances of +3 mercury compounds exist.

Applications

Most mercury is used for the manufacture of industrial chemicals and for electrical and electronic applications. In addition, mercury is widely used in thermometers, especially ones which are used to measure high temperatures. Other uses: * The ease with which it forms amalgams with gold has resulted in its use in gold recovery from ores. * In addition to thermometers, mercury is used in barometers, diffusion pumps, and many other laboratory instruments. * The triple point of mercury, -38.8344 °C, is a fixed point used as a temperature standard for the International Temperature Scale (ITS-90). * Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapor lamps and advertising signs.

Miscellaneous uses; mercury switches, pesticides, dental amalgams /preparations, mercury cells for caustic soda and chlorine production, anti-fouling paint, electrode in some types of electrolysis, batteries (mercury cells), and catalysts.

History

Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese and Hindus and was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500s BCE. By 500 BCE it was used to make amalgams with other metals. The ancient Greeks used this toxic metal in ointments and the Romans used it in cosmetics. Alchemists thought it to be the stuff from which all matter was formed and they also thought that when it hardened it turned into gold.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, mercury nitrate was used to remove fur from the animal skins from which felt hats were made. This caused many cases of brain damage among hatters, or milliners, leading, it is claimed, to the simile "as mad as a hatter", and thereby to the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame.

It was named by alchemists after the Roman god Mercury. Its symbol Hg comes from hydrargyrum, a Latinised form of the Greek word hydrargyros, which was a compound word whose Greek roots meant 'water' and 'silver'. Mercury is one of the few elements that has an alchemical symbol. If you have the right browser and font to support Unicode, you should see the symbol here: ☿.

Occurrence

A rare element in the earth's crust, mercury is found either as a native metal (rare) or in cinnabar, corderoite, livingstonite, and other minerals with cinnabar (Hg S) being the most common ore. Approximately 50% of the global supply comes from Spain and Italy with much of the rest coming from Slovenia, Russia, and North America. The metal is extracted by heating cinnabar in a current of air and by condensing the vapor.

Compounds

The most important salts are: * mercury chloride (which is very corrosive, sublimates and is a violent poison) * mercurous chloride (which is calomel and is sometimes still used in medicine ) * mercury fulminate, (a detonator widely used in explosives ), and * mercuric sulfide (used to make vermilion which is a high-grade paint pigment).

Organic mercury compounds are also important. Laboratory test have found that electrical discharge causes the noble gases neon, argon, krypton, and xenon to combine with mercury vapor. The products of this combination are held together with van der Waals forces and result in HgNe, HgAr, HgKr, and HgXe. Methyl mercury is a dangerous compound that is widely found as a pollutant in water bodies and streams.

Isotopes

There are seven stable isotopes of mercury with Hg-202 being the most abundant (26.86%). The longest-lived radioisotopes are Hg-194 with a half-life of 444 years, and Hg-203 with a half-life of 46.612 days. Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half-lifes that are less than a day.

Precautions

Mercury is highly toxic in both liquid and gaseous forms. This is a toxic heavy metal that causes brain and liver damage if it is ingested or inhaled. For this reason, thermometers which are only intended to measure typical climatic temperatures now use pigmented alcohol instead; the boiling point of alcohol is higher than any natural temperature expected on Earth. Some medical thermometers still use mercury, for reason of accuracy. Care must be exercised not to bite such a thermometer. The commercial unit for handling mercury is the "flask," which weighs 76 lb.

Mercury is a very dangerous bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed through skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues. Minamata disease is a form of mercury poisoning. Mercury attacks the central nervous system and adversely affects the mouth, gums, and teeth. High exposure over long periods of time will result in brain damage and ultimately death. Air saturated with mercury vapor at room temperature is at a concentration many times the toxic level, despite the high boiling point (the danger is increased at higher temperatures). Mercury should therefore be handled with great care. Containers of mercury need to be covered securely to avoid spillage and evaporation. Heating of mercury or mercury compounds should always be done under a well-ventilated hood; some oxides in particular can decompose into elemental mercury, which immediately evaporates and may not be obvious.

Wikipedia: Peter Cooper Hewitt

Peter Cooper Hewitt (May 5, 1861 - August 25, 1921) was an American electrical engineer, who demonstrated the mercury-vapour lamp for which he deposited a patent.

He fabricated a discharge lamp in a vapor of mercury heated by the current passing through the liquid phase. The lamp was started by tilting the tube to make contact between the two electrodes, with the liquid mercury located on one side at rest. The efficiency was much higher than incandescent lamps but the emitted light was of a bluish-green unpleasant color, which limited its practical use to specific professional areas, like photography where the color was not an issue at a time where films where black and white.

Reference