Mercury
The only metal liquid at room temperature, dense and toxic.
Inside the Mercury atom
Switch between Bohr and Quantum Cloud modes to compare a simple teaching model with a more realistic probability-based view, and follow the guided tour to explore the Mercury atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2
A neutral Mercury atom has 80 electrons (equal to its proton count). Choosing a different isotope above changes only the neutron count.
Shell distribution
Electrons fill inner shells before outer ones; the outermost (valence) shell drives the element's chemistry.
Physical & atomic properties
- State (room temp)
- Liquid
- Melting point
- 234 K (-39 °C)
- Boiling point
- 630 K (357 °C)
- Density
- 13.5336 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 2 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 150 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 1007 kJ/mol
- Category
- Transition metals
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- Antiquity
- Discovered by
- Known since antiquity
- Origin of name
- The planet Mercury; symbol from Latin 'hydrargyrum'.
Notable uses
Thermometers, fluorescent lamps, and amalgams.
Where Mercury comes from
Several comparable sources
Both slow neutron capture in dying stars and rapid capture in explosive events contribute meaningfully.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 80
- Atomic mass
- 200.59
- Category
- Transition metals
- Group · Period
- 12 · 6
- Block
- d-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 18 · 2