Electronic Configuration: [Xe]4f145d106s2 .
Mercury - even though mercury was known to the ancient Chinese and Hindus and was found in Egyptian tombs that date as far back as the 1500s BC, and by 500 BC it was used to make amalgams with other metals. It was recognized as a chemical element (in the modern sense) by A. L. Lavoisier about the end of the 18th century. Mercury was also know by the ancient Greeks, they called it liquid sliver. This names evolved into the Latin name hydrargyrum from which our present-day symbol Hg arises. Mercury is one of the few elements that has an alchemical symbol which resembles this:.
It is one of seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron & tin). This symbol could also be used to represent the planet of mercury in astrology. The metal is often also represented by a serpent or snake.
Mercury metal has many uses. It has a high density, therefore it is used in things like barometers and manometers. It has a high rate of thermal expansion that is fairly constant over a wide range of temperatures, for this reason it is used extensively in thermometers. Mercury is used as a liquid contact material for electric switches and used in certain electric batteries. It is used in mercury vapour lamps which emit light rich in ultraviolet radiation. Examples of such lights are street lights and sun lamps. Mercury is also used as an electrode in the production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
The ancient Greeks used this toxic metal in ointments and the Romans used it in cosmetics. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the element mercury nitrate was often used to remove fur from animal skins from which felt hats were made. Unfortunately, this caused many cases of brain damage with hatters. It is said that it lead to the simile "as mad as a hatter-, and from there to the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame. .
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.