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86-448: The mercury deposits of Almadén account for the largest quantity of liquid mercury metal produced in the world. Approximately 250,000 metric tons (280,000 short tons) of mercury have been produced there in the past 2,000 years. Due to the toxicity of mercury and its byproducts to humans, the mine has variously employed penal labour , slave labour , and prisoners of war over its long history. Almadén mine stopped working in 2002, due to

172-400: A half-life of 444 years, and Hg with a half-life of 46.612 days. Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half-lives that are less than a day. Hg occurs naturally in tiny traces as an intermediate decay product of U . Hg and Hg are the most often studied NMR -active nuclei, having spins of 1 ⁄ 2 and 3 ⁄ 2 respectively. Hg is

258-402: A liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint". The system rose from a Celtic festival of commemorating each martyr annually on

344-434: A mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact. Since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in-depth (as in iron rusting ), even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium. For this reason, mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in

430-640: A soft metal , mercury forms very stable derivatives with the heavier chalcogens . Preeminent is mercury(II) sulfide , HgS, which occurs in nature as the ore cinnabar and is the brilliant pigment vermilion . Like ZnS , HgS crystallizes in two forms , the reddish cubic form and the black zinc blende form. The latter sometimes occurs naturally as metacinnabar . Mercury(II) selenide (HgSe) and mercury(II) telluride (HgTe) are known, these as well as various derivatives, e.g. mercury cadmium telluride and mercury zinc telluride being semiconductors useful as infrared detector materials. Mercury(II) salts form

516-577: A chamber 60 feet below the 1800-year-old pyramid known as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent , the third-largest pyramid of Teotihuacan , Mexico, along with "jade statues, jaguar remains, a box filled with carved shells and rubber balls". In Lamanai , once a major city of the Maya civilization , a pool of mercury was found under a marker in a Mesoamerican ballcourt . Aristotle recounts that Daedalus made

602-451: A commemoration (see Tridentine calendar ), so in 1908 they were moved one day earlier. When the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March (see General Roman Calendar ). Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, in different traditions. The General Roman Calendar , which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only

688-459: A digital display. Some transit telescopes use a basin of mercury to form a flat and absolutely horizontal mirror, useful in determining an absolute vertical or perpendicular reference. Concave horizontal parabolic mirrors may be formed by rotating liquid mercury on a disk, the parabolic form of the liquid thus formed reflecting and focusing incident light. Such liquid-mirror telescopes are cheaper than conventional large mirror telescopes by up to

774-401: A factor of 100, but the mirror cannot be tilted and always points straight up. Liquid mercury is part of a popular secondary reference electrode (called the calomel electrode ) in electrochemistry as an alternative to the standard hydrogen electrode . The calomel electrode is used to work out the electrode potential of half cells . The triple point of mercury, −38.8344 °C, is

860-503: A fixed point used as a temperature standard for the International Temperature Scale ( ITS-90 ). In polarography , both the dropping mercury electrode and the hanging mercury drop electrode use elemental mercury. This use allows a new uncontaminated electrode to be available for each measurement or each new experiment. Feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing

946-480: A laxative and dewormer, and it was used in teething powders for infants. The mercury-containing organohalide merbromin (sometimes sold as Mercurochrome) is still widely used but has been banned in some countries, such as the U.S. Mercury is an ingredient in dental amalgams . Thiomersal (called Thimerosal in the United States) is an organic compound used as a preservative in vaccines , although this use

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1032-472: A peak of US$ 571 per 76-pound (34 kg) flask in 1965 to US$ 121 in 1976, making economic planning difficult. In 1981, the Spanish government created the company Minas de Almadén y Arrayanes to operate the mine. In 2000, the mines closed due to the fall of the price of mercury on the international market, caused by falling demand. However, Almadén still has one of the world's largest mercury resources. Almadén

1118-445: A positive charge. One example is Hg 3 (AsF 6 ) 2 containing the Hg 3 cation. Mercury(II) is the most common oxidation state and is the main one in nature as well. All four mercuric halides are known and have been demonstrated to form linear coordination geometry , despite mercury's tendency to form tetrahedral molecular geometry with other ligands. This behavior

1204-512: A process that uses mercury to extract metals from gold and silver ore. The demand for mercury grew, and so did the town's importance as a center of mining and industry. Most of the mercury produced at this time was sent to Seville , then to the Americas. The dangerous working conditions of the mines made it difficult for the Fuggers to find willing laborers. As the demand for mercury grew, convict labor

1290-785: A proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs (with special formulas for missionary martyrs and virgin martyrs), pastors (subdivided into bishops, generic pastors, founders of churches, and missionaries), Doctors of the Church, Virgins, and (generic) Saints (with special formulas for abbots, monks, nuns, religious, those noted for works of mercy, educators, and [generically] women saints). This calendar system, when combined with major church festivals and movable and immovable feasts, constructs

1376-431: A proper burial for each of the men that died at the mine. A religious confraternity was formed, conducted by a prior who was administrator of the mine for the Fuggers. The prior also chose devout convicts to serve as officials. Mass was held on Sundays and feast days , and non-attendance was punishable by fine. People abducted for slavery, mainly from North Africa, were purchased directly from slaveholders to work alongside

1462-478: A selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology , and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally. The earliest feast days of saints were those of martyrs, venerated as having shown for Christ the greatest form of love, in accordance with the teaching: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Saint Martin of Tours

1548-504: A special council was created to operate the mines, introducing new technology and safety improvements. A record production of 82,000 mercury flasks (6.232 million lb or 2.827 million kg) was reached in 1941, just after the Spanish Civil War , using prisoners of war as forced labor. This amount is comparable to the 3,000 t (3,300 short tons) that were produced by China in 2018. The price for mercury decreased from

1634-459: A variety of complex derivatives with ammonia . These include Millon's base (Hg 2 N ), the one-dimensional polymer (salts of HgNH 2 ) n ), and "fusible white precipitate" or [Hg(NH 3 ) 2 ]Cl 2 . Known as Nessler's reagent , potassium tetraiodomercurate(II) ( K 2 HgI 4 ) is still occasionally used to test for ammonia owing to its tendency to form the deeply colored iodide salt of Millon's base. Mercury fulminate

1720-506: A very human and personalised yet often localized way of organizing the year and identifying dates. Some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints' days: their works may appear "dated" as "The Feast of Saint Martin ". As different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. This happened because the same individual may be considered differently by one church; in extreme examples, one church's saint may be another church's heretic, as in

1806-502: A wooden statue of Aphrodite move by pouring quicksilver in its interior. In Greek mythology Daedalus gave the appearance of voice in his statues using quicksilver. The ancient Greeks used cinnabar (mercury sulfide) in ointments; the ancient Egyptians and the Romans used it in cosmetics . By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams (Medieval Latin amalgama , "alloy of mercury") with other metals. Alchemists thought of mercury as

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1892-460: Is a chemical element ; it has symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum ( / h aɪ ˈ d r ɑːr dʒ ər ə m / hy- DRAR -jər-əm ) from the Greek words hydor ' water ' and argyros ' silver ' , from which its chemical symbol is derived. A heavy , silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that

1978-474: Is a detonator widely used in explosives . Organic mercury compounds are historically important but are of little industrial value in the western world. Mercury(II) salts are a rare example of simple metal complexes that react directly with aromatic rings. Organomercury compounds are always divalent and usually two-coordinate and linear geometry. Unlike organocadmium and organozinc compounds, organomercury compounds do not react with water. They usually have

2064-427: Is a heavy, silvery-white metal that is liquid at room temperature. Compared to other metals, it is a poor conductor of heat, but a fair conductor of electricity. It has a melting point of −38.83 °C and a boiling point of 356.73 °C, both the lowest of any stable metal, although preliminary experiments on copernicium and flerovium have indicated that they have even lower boiling points. This effect

2150-562: Is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes in some countries. Today, the use of mercury in medicine has greatly declined in all respects, especially in developed countries. Mercury is still used in some diuretics , although substitutes such as thiazides now exist for most therapeutic uses. In 2003, mercury compounds were found in some over-the-counter drugs , including topical antiseptics , stimulant laxatives, diaper-rash ointment , eye drops , and nasal sprays . The FDA has "inadequate data to establish general recognition of

2236-480: Is an exception, and iron flasks have traditionally been used to transport the material. Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese , copper and zinc are also resistant in forming amalgams. Other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum . Sodium amalgam is a common reducing agent in organic synthesis , and is also used in high-pressure sodium lamps. Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form

2322-473: Is due to lanthanide contraction and relativistic contraction reducing the orbit radius of the outermost electrons, and thus weakening the metallic bonding in mercury. Upon freezing, the volume of mercury decreases by 3.59% and its density changes from 13.69 g/cm when liquid to 14.184 g/cm when solid. The coefficient of volume expansion is 181.59 × 10 at 0 °C, 181.71 × 10 at 20 °C and 182.50 × 10 at 100 °C (per °C). Solid mercury

2408-502: Is extracted. From antiquity, cinnabar was used to make the pigment vermillion and this is the likely end-use of the mineral extraction of Almadén of the Roman and Visigothic periods, for which times historical records are limited. In the Islamic era, furnaces capable of extracting mercury from the cinnabar were installed. With the more advanced expertise available to the alchemists of Al-Andalus ,

2494-432: Is in decline. Although it was widely speculated that this mercury-based preservative could cause or trigger autism in children, no evidence supports any such link. Nevertheless, thiomersal has been removed from, or reduced to trace amounts in, all U.S. vaccines recommended for children 6 years of age and under, with the exception of the inactivated influenza vaccine. Merbromin (Mercurochrome), another mercury compound,

2580-503: Is known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure ; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine , though metals such as caesium , gallium , and rubidium melt just above room temperature . Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar ( mercuric sulfide ). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide. Exposure to mercury and mercury-containing organic compounds

2666-655: Is malleable and ductile, and can be cut with a knife. Table of thermal and physical properties of liquid mercury: Mercury does not react with most acids, such as dilute sulfuric acid , although oxidizing acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid or aqua regia dissolve it to give sulfate , nitrate , and chloride . Like silver, mercury reacts with atmospheric hydrogen sulfide . Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes, which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury (spill kits also use activated carbon and powdered zinc). Mercury dissolves many metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams . Iron

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2752-488: Is now a World Heritage Site, Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija . A museum has been built; the site allows visits to the mines (in areas dating from 16th to 20th century). The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) acknowledged Almadén as "the largest known mercury deposit in the Earth and with a longest productive history dating back to the 3rd century BCS". Due to this, IUGS included "the giant mercury deposit of

2838-570: Is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title " confessor " was used for such saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, and confessors are people who died natural deaths. A broader range of titles was used later, such as: Virgin , Pastor , Bishop , Monk , Priest , Founder, Abbot , Apostle, Doctor of

2924-594: Is similar to the Ag ion. The best known mercury halide is mercury(II) chloride , an easily sublimating white solid. Mercury(II) oxide , the main oxide of mercury, arises when the metal is exposed to air for long periods at elevated temperatures. It reverts to the elements upon heating near 400 °C, as was demonstrated by Joseph Priestley in an early synthesis of pure oxygen . Hydroxides of mercury are poorly characterized, as attempted isolation studies of mercury(II) hydroxide have yielded mercury oxide instead. Being

3010-484: Is toxic to the nervous system , immune system and kidneys of humans and other animals; mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury (such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury ) either directly or through mechanisms of biomagnification . Mercury is used in thermometers , barometers , manometers , sphygmomanometers , float valves , mercury switches , mercury relays , fluorescent lamps and other devices, although concerns about

3096-573: Is used as the ligand). Mercury(I) chloride , a colorless solid also known as calomel , is really the compound with the formula Hg 2 Cl 2 , with the connectivity Cl-Hg-Hg-Cl. It reacts with chlorine to give mercury(II) chloride , which resists further oxidation. Mercury(I) hydride , a colorless gas, has the formula HgH, containing no Hg-Hg bond; however, the gas has only ever been observed as isolated molecules. Indicative of its tendency to bond to itself, mercury forms mercury polycations , which consist of linear chains of mercury centers, capped with

3182-518: Is used in some liquid-in-glass thermometers , especially those used to measure high temperatures. A still increasing amount is used as gaseous mercury in fluorescent lamps , while most of the other applications are slowly being phased out due to health and safety regulations. In some applications, mercury is replaced with less toxic but considerably more expensive Galinstan alloy . Mercury and its compounds have been used in medicine, although they are much less common today than they once were, now that

3268-490: The forzados . Safer mining technology was introduced in the last quarter of the 18th century, and free laborers began to take an interest in the mine again. By the end of the century, free workers had replaced most of the slave labor. The penal establishment at Almadén was closed in 1801. In 1835, during the First Carlist War , the mine was leased indefinitely to the bank of N M Rothschild & Sons . The price paid

3354-399: The 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane (the deadliest in the island's recorded history; Saint Cyriacus , August 8), the 1928 San Felipe hurricane (the strongest in terms of measured wind speed; Saint Philip , father of Saint Eugenia of Rome , September 13), and the 1932 San Ciprian hurricane ( Saint Cyprian , September 26). This practice continued until quite some time after

3440-524: The Anglican Communion , there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days , Festivals , Lesser Festivals , and Commemorations . Before the advent of standardized naming of tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic basin , tropical storms and hurricanes that affected the island of Puerto Rico were informally named after the Catholic saints corresponding to the feast days when

3526-548: The Canon of Matins ). There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and double (i.e., two simple feasts celebrated together). In Double Feasts, the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon , the liturgy book. The Lutheran Churches celebrate Festivals, Lesser Festivals, Days of Devotion, and Commemorations. In the Church of England , mother Church of

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3612-580: The First Matter from which all metals were formed. They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was called for in attempts at the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold, which was the goal of many alchemists. The mines in Almadén (Spain), Monte Amiata (Italy), and Idrija (now Slovenia) dominated mercury production from

3698-471: The Neolithic Age . In China and Tibet , mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain generally good health, although it is now known that exposure to mercury vapor leads to serious adverse health effects. The first emperor of a unified China, Qín Shǐ Huáng Dì —allegedly buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury on a model of the land he ruled, representative of

3784-800: The United States Weather Bureau (now called the National Weather Service) started publishing and using official female human names (initially; male names were added starting in 1979 after the NWS relinquished control over naming to the World Meteorological Organization ). The last two usages of this informal naming scheme in Puerto Rico were in 1956 ( Hurricane Betsy , locally nicknamed Santa Clara after Saint Clare of Assisi , feast day August 12 back then; her feast day

3870-835: The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum , divides liturgical days into I, II, III, and IV class days. Those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as doubles (of three or four kinds), Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite . In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are: Great Feasts , middle, and minor feasts. Each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows: All-night vigils , Polyeleos , Great Doxology , Sextuple ("sixfold", having six stichera at Vespers and six troparia at

3956-546: The 1650s. Fahrenheit's mercury thermometer was based on an earlier design that used alcohol rather than mercury; the mercury thermometer was significantly more accurate than those using alcohol. From the early 21st century onwards, the use of mercury thermometers has been declining, and mercury-containing instruments have been banned in many jurisdictions following the 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals . Modern alternatives to mercury thermometers include resistance thermometers , thermocouples , and thermistor sensors that output to

4042-541: The 1960s onward, the majority of industrial plants moved away from mercury cell processes towards diaphragm cell technologies to produce chlorine, though 11% of the chlorine made in the United States was still produced with the mercury cell method as of 2005. Thermometers containing mercury were invented in the early 18th century by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , though earlier attempts at making temperature-measuring instruments filled with quicksilver had been described in

4128-524: The Almadén syncline" in its assemblage of 100 world "geological heritage sites" published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as "a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history". Mercury (element) Mercury

4214-399: The Church . The Tridentine Missal has common formulæ for Masses of Martyrs, Confessors who were bishops, Doctors of the Church, Confessors who were not Bishops, Abbots, Virgins, Non-Virgins, Dedication of Churches, and Feast Days of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes. The 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning

4300-518: The European mercury mining prohibition. In 2006, the mine opened to the public who can visit the first level, 50 metres (160 ft) underground. In 2012, Almadén and Idrija ( Slovenia ) were declared World Heritage Sites, with the nomination "Heritage of Mercury" . The geology of the area is characterised by volcanism . Almadén is home to the world's greatest reserves of cinnabar , a mineral associated with recent volcanic activity, from which mercury

4386-399: The United States and Mexico, which once produced a large proportion of the world supply, have now been completely mined out or, in the case of Slovenia ( Idrija ) and Spain ( Almadén ), shut down due to the fall of the price of mercury. Nevada 's McDermitt Mine, the last mercury mine in the United States, closed in 1992. The price of mercury has been highly volatile over the years and in 2006

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4472-405: The aircraft. Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement, as mercury is a natural component of some hydrocarbon reservoirs and will come into contact with petroleum processing equipment under normal conditions. There are seven stable isotopes of mercury, with Hg being the most abundant (29.86%). The longest-lived radioisotopes are Hg with

4558-549: The cases of Nestorius , Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria , or Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople . In the Catholic Church feast days are ranked in accordance with their importance. In the post- Vatican II form of the Roman Rite , feast days are ranked (in descending order of importance) as solemnities , feasts or memorials (obligatory or optional). Pope John XXIII 's 1960 Code of Rubrics , whose use remains authorized by

4644-421: The convicts. The enslaved people purchased to work in the mines at Almadén were those considered less desirable, unwanted by their slaveholders for various reasons ("rebelliousness", for example), so were much cheaper than others on the market at the time. Such were the dangers of the work and the likelihood of early death, that purchasing enslaved people at the usual market price would have been uneconomic. By 1613,

4730-464: The crustal mass, mercury ores can be extraordinarily concentrated considering the element's abundance in ordinary rock. The richest mercury ores contain up to 2.5% mercury by mass, and even the leanest concentrated deposits are at least 0.1% mercury (12,000 times average crustal abundance). It is found either as a native metal (rare) or in cinnabar , metacinnabar , sphalerite , corderoite , livingstonite and other minerals , with cinnabar (HgS) being

4816-546: The cyclones either made landfall or started to seriously affect the island. Examples are: the 1780 San Calixto hurricane (more widely known as the Great Hurricane of 1780 , the deadliest in the North Atlantic basin's recorded history ; named after Pope Callixtus I (Saint Callixtus), whose feast day is October 14), the 1867 San Narciso hurricane (named after Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem , feast day October 29),

4902-403: The danger of death or sickness from mercury poisoning was always present. Twenty-four percent of convicts at Almadén between 1566 and 1593 died before their release dates, most often because of mercury poisoning. Nearly all prisoners experienced discomfort due to mercury exposure. Common symptoms included severe pains in any part of the body, trembling limbs, and loss of sanity. Most of the men at

4988-484: The date of their death, their birth into heaven, a date therefore referred to in Latin as the martyr's dies natalis ('day of birth'). In the Eastern Orthodox Church , a calendar of saints is called a Menologion . "Menologion" may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and

5074-531: The dimeric cation, Hg 2 . Stable derivatives include the chloride and nitrate . In aqueous solution of a mercury(I) salt, slight disproportion of Hg 2 into Hg and Hg results in >0.5% of dissolved mercury existing as Hg . In these solutions, complexation of the Hg with addition of ligands such as cyanide causes disproportionation to go to completion, with all Hg 2 precipitating as elemental mercury and insoluble mercury(II) compounds (e.g. mercury(II) cyanide if cyanide

5160-444: The element's toxicity have led to the phasing out of such mercury-containing instruments. It remains in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is also used in fluorescent lighting . Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light , which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce , making visible light. Mercury

5246-459: The enslaved outnumbered forzados by a two-to-one ratio. In 1645, the Fugger concession was cancelled and the mines were taken over by the state, to be managed by the royal government. All capital criminals were to be sent to Almadén by court order in 1749, but the mine simply could not accommodate all of them. The act was cancelled in 1751. Two disastrous fires occurred in 1775 that were blamed on

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5332-512: The first half of the Middle Ages , eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to alternate days in some traditions or completely removed, with the result that some saints have different feast days in different calendars. For example, saints Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, but this date was later assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas , allowing them only

5418-539: The form of one of its common ores, cinnabar, is used in various traditional medicines, especially in traditional Chinese medicine . Review of its safety has found that cinnabar can lead to significant mercury intoxication when heated, consumed in overdose , or taken long term, and can have adverse effects at therapeutic doses, though effects from therapeutic doses are typically reversible. Although this form of mercury appears to be less toxic than other forms, its use in traditional Chinese medicine has not yet been justified, as

5504-471: The formula HgR 2 , which are often volatile, or HgRX, which are often solids, where R is aryl or alkyl and X is usually halide or acetate. Methylmercury , a generic term for compounds with the formula CH 3 HgX, is a dangerous family of compounds that are often found in polluted water. They arise by a process known as biomethylation . Mercury is used primarily for the manufacture of industrial chemicals or for electrical and electronic applications. It

5590-418: The furnaces died from poisoning. Forzados were also forced to bail water out of the mines. These men escaped the dangers of mercury exposure but suffered exhaustion on a daily basis. A group of four men had to bail out 300 buckets of water without rest. Those that could not meet this quota were whipped. Sick prisoners were not exempt from this practice. Death was common, and the convicts wished to provide

5676-700: The historic Almaden Quicksilver Mine and created a county park on the site, after conducting extensive safety and environmental analysis of the property. All known mercury compounds exhibit one of two positive oxidation states: I and II. Experiments have failed to unequivocally demonstrate any higher oxidation states: both the claimed 1976 electrosynthesis of an unstable Hg(III) species and 2007 cryogenic isolation of HgF 4 have disputed interpretations and remain difficult (if not impossible) to reproduce. Unlike its lighter neighbors, cadmium and zinc, mercury usually forms simple stable compounds with metal-metal bonds. Most mercury(I) compounds are diamagnetic and feature

5762-452: The jail of Toledo . Those selected usually had limited sentences and good physical abilities. Murderers and capital criminals were rarely selected, as the galleys were considered a far harsher punishment than the mines of Almadén. A steady run of complaints to the king in the 1580s led to an investigation of convict living conditions at Almadén in 1593. The investigation was conducted by royal commissioner and famous author Mateo Alemán and

5848-483: The largest use of mercury in the late 20th century was in the mercury cell process (also called the Castner-Kellner process ) where metallic sodium is formed as an amalgam at a cathode made from mercury; this sodium is then reacted with water to produce sodium hydroxide. Many of the industrial mercury releases of the 20th century came from this process, although modern plants claim to be safe in this regard. From

5934-533: The mercury for the colonies. Mercury deposits were discovered in the New World, and more than 100,000 tons of mercury were mined from the region of Huancavelica , Peru, over the course of three centuries following the discovery of deposits there in 1563. The patio process and later pan amalgamation process continued to create great demand for mercury to treat silver ores until the late 19th century. Former mines in Italy,

6020-564: The mercury required for CFL bulb manufacture. Environmental dangers have been a concern, particularly in the southern cities of Foshan and Guangzhou , and in Guizhou province in the southwest. Abandoned mercury mine processing sites often contain very hazardous waste piles of roasted cinnabar calcines . Water run-off from such sites is a recognized source of ecological damage. Former mercury mines may be suited for constructive re-use; for example, in 1976 Santa Clara County, California purchased

6106-429: The mines of Almadén exported mercury throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. They were important enough to be described in the learned literature of the day. The Fuggers of Augsburg , two German bankers, administered the mines during the 16th and 17th centuries in return for loans to the Spanish government. Mercury became very valuable in the Americas in the mid-16th century due to the introduction of amalgamation ,

6192-602: The mining of cinnabar and refining for mercury are hazardous and historic causes of mercury poisoning. In China, prison labor was used by a private mining company as recently as the 1950s to develop new cinnabar mines. Thousands of prisoners were used by the Luo Xi mining company to establish new tunnels. Worker health in functioning mines is at high risk. A newspaper claimed that an unidentified European Union directive calling for energy-efficient lightbulbs to be made mandatory by 2012 encouraged China to re-open cinnabar mines to obtain

6278-496: The modern chemical symbol for mercury. It is an abbreviation of hydrargyrum , a romanized form of the ancient Greek name for mercury, ὑδράργυρος ( hydrargyros ). Hydrargyros is a Greek compound word meaning ' water-silver ' , from ὑδρ - ( hydr -), the root of ὕδωρ ( hydor ) ' water ' , and ἄργυρος ( argyros ) ' silver ' . Like the English name quicksilver ( ' living-silver ' ), this name

6364-617: The most common ore. Mercury ores often occur in hot springs or other volcanic regions. Beginning in 1558, with the invention of the patio process to extract silver from ore using mercury, mercury became an essential resource in the economy of Spain and its American colonies. Mercury was used to extract silver from the lucrative mines in New Spain and Peru . Initially, the Spanish Crown's mines in Almadén in Southern Spain supplied all

6450-409: The opening of the mine in Almadén 2500 years ago, until new deposits were found at the end of the 19th century. Mercury is an extremely rare element in Earth's crust ; it has an average crustal abundance by mass of only 0.08 parts per million (ppm) and is the 66th most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Because it does not blend geochemically with those elements that constitute the majority of

6536-463: The planet became one of the alchemical symbols for the metal, and Mercury became an alternative name for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name survives, as it was decided it was preferable to quicksilver as a chemical name. Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC; cinnabar , the most common natural source of mercury, has been in use since

6622-483: The rivers of China—was reportedly killed by drinking a mercury and powdered jade mixture formulated by Qin alchemists intended as an elixir of immortality. Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun , the second Tulunid ruler of Egypt (r. 884–896), known for his extravagance and profligacy , reportedly built a basin filled with mercury, on which he would lie on top of air-filled cushions and be rocked to sleep. In November 2014 "large quantities" of mercury were discovered in

6708-423: The safety and effectiveness" of the mercury ingredients in these products. Chlorine is produced from sodium chloride (common salt, NaCl) using electrolysis to separate metallic sodium from chlorine gas. Usually salt is dissolved in water to produce a brine. By-products of any such chloralkali process are hydrogen (H 2 ) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is commonly called caustic soda or lye . By far

6794-409: The symptoms of its toxicity were confused with those of the syphilis it was believed to treat. It is also used as a disinfectant. Blue mass , a pill or syrup in which mercury is the main ingredient, was prescribed throughout the 19th century for numerous conditions including constipation, depression, child-bearing and toothaches. In the early 20th century, mercury was administered to children yearly as

6880-418: The therapeutic basis for the use of cinnabar is not clear. Mercury(I) chloride (also known as calomel or mercurous chloride) has been used in traditional medicine as a diuretic , topical disinfectant , and laxative . Mercury(II) chloride (also known as mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate) was once used to treat syphilis (along with other mercury compounds), although it is so toxic that sometimes

6966-415: The toxic effects of mercury and its compounds are more widely understood. An example of the early therapeutic application of mercury was published in 1787 by James Lind . The first edition of The Merck Manuals (1899) featured many then-medically relevant mercuric compounds, such as mercury-ammonium chloride , yellow mercury proto-iodide , calomel , and mercuric chloride , among others. Mercury in

7052-400: Was $ 650 per 76-pound (34.46 kg) flask . Mercury is extracted by heating cinnabar in a current of air and condensing the vapor. The equation for this extraction is: In 2020, China was the top producer of mercury, providing 88% of the world output (2200 out of 2500 tonnes), followed by Tajikistan (178 t), Russia (50 t) and Mexico (32 t). Because of the high toxicity of mercury, both

7138-432: Was based largely on convict interviews. The mine at Almadén provided forzados with acceptable living conditions. Each convict received daily rations of meat, bread, wine. Each year, a forzado was issued a doublet , one pair of breeches, stockings, two shirts, one pair of shoes, and a hood. Medical care was available at the infirmary, and the mine even housed its own apothecary . Despite these positive offerings,

7224-448: Was due to mercury's liquid and shiny properties. The modern English name mercury comes from the planet Mercury . In medieval alchemy , the seven known metals—quicksilver, gold , silver , copper , iron , lead , and tin —were associated with the seven planets. Quicksilver was associated with the fastest planet, which had been named after the Roman god Mercury , who was associated with speed and mobility. The astrological symbol for

7310-607: Was high, but one of the Rothschild family firms had previously purchased the quicksilver mine in Idrija (now in Slovenia) from Austria; thus the firm had a monopoly on quicksilver, until the discovery of New Almaden in California. Volume was expanded and the metal sold at a substantial markup returning a substantial profit to both Spain and the firm. Spain reclaimed the mine in 1863. In 1916,

7396-453: Was introduced. After the Fuggers failed to meet production quotas in 1566, the King of Spain agreed to send 30 prisoners to serve their sentences as laborers at Almadén. The first group of forzados arrived at Almadén at the end of February 1566. The number was increased to 40 in 1583. The prisoners, known as forzados , were selected out of criminals waiting for transport to the galleys in

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