Mercury: The Liquid Metal

[Rage1of1Hades34]

It says that it melts at -38,9 degrees celcius. But how do you melt something thats already a liquid?

[gadadhoon]

That shot of the vapor is scary.

[crackerpoop1211]

ha, the death note song

[CPKnome335]

"Truth or Dare?" "Dare!" "I dare you to rub mercury all over your cuts and scabs!"

[ElTurbinado]

Cool video, thanks for posting!

[nukesforce]

Only Fe, Ni & Co have magnetic effects.

[mlacey56]

LOL.... when on the paper plate...... "whoa"/// wow. cracked up laughing

[shunnehling]

I never thought mercury would evaporate like that.

[MrBlurtit]

How poisonus is mercury? Will it kill or harm to touch it o.O?

[MrGoogfan]

@MrBlurtit '

No. You can even swallow it. It is only dangerous if you boil it and inhale the vapors. The small amount of vapor naturally released is insufficient to cause any harm.

[relaxedchong]

can it be moved by magnets?

[MixyBoy]

Yes, its a metal... ;)

[MrGoogfan]

@relaxedchong

no

[vitorix24]

if you put mercury in water, the mercury can not evaporate... my father and my grandfather are goldsmith =)

[my1little2pony]

it filled a pop bottle half way

[my1little2pony]

haha, me and my buddy found like 5 pounds of mercury in an old water meter! I think it was used as a lubricant...

[RichardTran0]

I wonder if Mercury can be a Cure for Cancer O_o

[AScannerClearly]

Not likely, but they thought for ages that Mercury could cure syphillus. For ages they also thought lead acetate was a good sweetener for wine too. Both had the same kind of problems.

[RichardTran0]

Whats a natural source of Mercury, and where does it come from?

[AScannerClearly]

It's usually mined from the mineral Cinnabar, which is Mercury Sulfide (HgS), although droplets of mercury metal can be found along with the mineral occasionally. There may be other mercury ores but that's the biggest one that I know of.

[vitorix24]

where you can find a termostat witch mercury :D?

[polonium9]

i am gonna get some mercury from my math teacher, a friend here on youtube, and on monday am gonna send a disclaimer thing to metallium in MA so i am doin good GREAT VIDEO ALSO will make a video response of my mercury and try different experiments with the mercury switch and its electrical properties

[067324624]

post a vid with a magnet

[chao129]

mercury wont attract a magnet

[Ignantredneck]

I'll bet you get super powers when you inhale those vapors.

[xtillsx]

No you get heavy metal poisoning which destroys proteins in your body (including enzymes like nuerotransmitters etc) which will kill you - unless of course you take edta to cure it.

[betwixtX]

Does the mercury constanly extract itself to air? So if I have small piece in my room, can I like breath it in?

[xtillsx]

I don't think so but due to its extemely low melting point it is not particularly safe to not have it in a sealed container.

[betwixtX]

ok, tx. Do You know if there are some foods, pestitsides or other common stuff that contaion it?

[xtillsx]

Yes, mercury is quite a common component found in many things. The most common being of course, amalgam fillings (those which look silvery). There have been recent health scares due to people believing that their mercury alloy fillings were causing them sickness due to chronic low level poisoning from vapours eradiating from their fillings. However mostly these vapours are so negligable and are not absorbed into the body.

[walikai]

good job exposing yourself to those extremely toxic vapours!* ;)

[alienscreatedhumans]

1 gram can turn even the smartest people into non talking vegetables cuz of servere brain damage

[AScannerClearly]

That's very true. The key is to get it all into your brain so that it can cause the damage.

[gl0gg]

yeah maybe if you swallow it all or pour it in ur ear you retard. i think YOUR the vegetable.

[sciencoking]

I think it´s rather you as you can´t spell the contraction of 'you are'.

Next time write something correct if you want to say someone that he´s stupid.

[cumulo25]

Murcury vapors are toxic as hell but handling it with ur bare hands for a short time is ok

[doombunnies]

Great vid and love the music! X P

[goldenboyvp]

Where did you get that magnet? lol

[gl0gg]

wat tha fuck is ur prob, dude? stop postin shit like that.

[unusualcatperson]

Fascinating.

[TungstenVirago]

Playing with mercury is exceptionally dangerous.

Inhaled mercury vapour (the most toxic form) can cross the blood brain barrier in seconds.

[tonoolvera]

And yet, they use it in tooth fillings. GG.

[MisterPie1]

It's normally only deadly when heated O.o

[nitrex]

Well not exactly, Mercury has a much lethal form and that is its compounds!. Mercury metal is nothing compared to its compounds, especially the more deadly Organic mercury.

[bubber25]

the drug co's put this shit in the vaccines. its listed as thimerasol a preservative. it causes an IQ reduction of 20 points as well as autism in infants. Eugenicists in the 1920' wrote about how they would poison the public back then in order to control us and make us dumb cattle. i'de say they have done pretty well. just watch "end game" on google video it tells you all this in the last hour of the documentary

[gl0gg]

u got that from wikipedia, didnt you?

[mena114]

in case any of u dont no mercury is HIGHLY POISONESS

[SpankTank3000]

and FUN!!!

[tooinch]

Hg is Toxic...

It is dangerous

[badboybarb]

would you want to buy any

[AScannerClearly]

No thanks, I'm content with the quantity I have for now, but will always be looking out for some more to rescue from the garbage if it ever comes my way.

[Emericastaysgold]

where did you get it?

[jmmatos23]

buy 10 thermometers and break them and get a container.

[AScannerClearly]

From a silent wall switch that had to be removed years ago since it was arcing, that had around 3 grams, and one more from a thermostat tilt switch. I've still got 2 more thermostat switches (like the one featured in the video) that I'm keeping intact, so I've got about 6 grams total. Got it all from people about to trash it, so it's 6 g saved from going to the landfills.

[barada42]

As someone who has gone through a year (so far) of treatment for my exposure to mercury, I can't urge you more strongly to get that stuff to a recycling depot or some place capable of receiving hazardous waste, and put these experiments behind you. You clearly do not possess a facility capable of handling such experiments safely. Get rid of this crap, there is no good reason to be playing with this or promoting playing with it on YouTube!

[AScannerClearly]

May I ask exactly how you came to be exposed to a dangerous level of Hg?

[jmmatos23]

u r not exposed to Hg poisoning, normally mercury vapors dont harm u at room temperature, and it cant be absorbed throught ur skin as ppl say because its too dense. it is not that dangerous.

[AScannerClearly]

The vapors are harmful at any temperature, but they've got to be very concentrated or absorbed in smaller amounts for a long period of time. I also believe it can be absorbed through the skin, but again in only small amounts; need to have it on your skin for several minutes at the same spot before it'll have any affect.

[AScannerClearly]

The main way I see someone getting exposed to dangerous levels, is either from the environment (consuming contaminated fish or living on land polluted by it), in which I'm truly sorry, on the job where they don't follow all the regulations on dealing with Hg, or if you're experimenting with it and are an idiot and boil or heat it, leave the container open all day, or spill any and don't clean it up properly.

[AScannerClearly]

My container was only open for at most 15 minutes, 4 months ago, in a room with the ventilation fan running. Haven't opened it since, and only opened it three times previously for shorter periods of time. Had it in my palm once for about a minute. After all that, I'm still convinced I'm exposed to more Hg at my job from idiot customers breaking fluorescent tubes and just leaving them there.

[jmmatos23]

yes thats what i mean, in right conditions u dont have to worry about its evaporation. At room temperature it is considerably unharmful when used in a ventilated are to prevent its concentration. I dont think it can be absorbed thought the skin because i was experimenting with it and i put it in a colander and it couldnt go throught it, so i guess that it wont go throught microscopic pores.

[bionerd23]

lol, i just found out that mercury vapor isnt visible in long-wave UV myself. ;-)

hmmm, you have mercury vapor lamps in your streets in the US? o_O

in germany, we only have sodium vapor lamps. well, high pressure sodium lamps contain mercury as well, i think - but yet, the lamps only emit long-wave light; red and yellow, with some green and going slightly into the blue area... but no short wave ultra violet afaik.

[AScannerClearly]

Yeah, we've got the Sodium Vapor lamps, Mercury Vapor, and Metal-Halide lamps, all 3 contain mercury but only the straight Mercury-Vapor will have the proper spectrum to be absorbed. And yeah, the shortwave UV is filtered out by those by the borosilicate glass envelope surrounding the inner quartz tube.

[vmelkon]

I thought sodium lamps have sodium and some argon. The argon is used to start it up. No mercury in it at all. I have even broken one and dropped some water droplets to see the sodium sparks.

[AScannerClearly]

Mercury is used in sodium vapor lamps, look at one through some diffraction grating and you'll see the mercury spectrum mixed in there with the sodium. The sodium and mercury are mixed together as an amalgam, so if you're tossing that stuff into water to see the sodium react, I'd bet you're inhaling some nasty Hg vapors along with it! Never let mercury get hot! (Unless of course it's still in an unbroken lamp).

[vmelkon]

That sucks. Why don't they write it on the bulbs that it contains mercury?

[AScannerClearly]

I work at a lighting supply store; all the bulb packaging has several warnings in several languages warning about the mercury and having a phone number for how to dispose of it properly. However the lamps themselves only recently began having any such labeling, usually it's "Hg" in a circle, a little smaller than a dime. Maybe been less than 2 years they've had that label; normal lamps last much longer so there's many unlabeled ones still floating around.

[sciencoking]

sodium mercury amalgam does not react with water. actually they use a mercury cathode and electrolyze normal stupid salt water to get sodium. the sodium atoms react with the mercury INSTANTLY once they´re made. they don´t even have the time to react with water. once the amalgam is saturated, the mercury sodium amalgam is taken out and heated, so that the mercury boils away and you have pure sodium.

[endimion17]

It is the energetic UV that mercury readily absorbs. I've tried with fluorescent tube, one side opened. The plasma inside was clearly visible as a blue fog, rich with UV-C, but no mercury shadow. It faded because there was lot of visible light shining from within.I don't know. Seems to be too complicated.

[AScannerClearly]

Well your experiment certainly trumps my guessing lol. The visible light may have washed it out, but either way getting a shortwave UV lamp would be the most effective.

[endimion17]

So, shortwave is a must, for the observation of vapors. I tried with longwave, didn't help.

Good video.

[AScannerClearly]

Yes, shortwave UV tubes are completely clear, so only the light made by the excited Mercury vapor is emitted. Longwave UV blacklights have a phosphor coating inside to produce more longwave UV from the internal shortwave, and those wavelengths by the phosphor aren't absorbed by the Hg vapor. I'm curious though, perhaps light from a Mercury Vapor street lamp might work too?

[endimion17]

Those streetlamps produce white light that has more blue in it so that would make them even less energetic than blacklight.

How much did the mercury switches cost? :)

[AScannerClearly]

The whiteness of those lights is mostly in the brain; take a prism or diffraction grating and you'll see those lights only emit strongly at violet, blue, green, and weakly at red, with only a few weak lines in-between, which is the mercury spectrum. So Hg vapor should absorb only those colors as well. How much energy each color is should be irrelevant.

[AScannerClearly]

It's just an idea though, if it works there's that small chance it'd save you from having to buy a shortwave lamp since they're a bit pricey. As for the Hg switches, I got them free; one from my own house switch since it was arcing and needed replaced, the others from 3 thermostats obtained from a neighbor. All my mercury has basically been saved from going to the landfill.

[Euterpsoapin]

Actualy, in theory any substance can be magnetic and in a sense is, magnetisum in iron and such are only the predominacys of the bunch.

You would just need to organise the electron spin to the same direction and speed.

[antioldpeopleclub]

my 4 year old brother just dropped a thermometer and it's so cool

[AScannerClearly]

Definitely keep the mercury away from your brother! It takes large amounts to harm adults, but children's blood-brain barrier isn't yet developed and little Hg vapor can harm them! Seal it up airtight and keep it out of reach, I'm serious.

[antioldpeopleclub]

Don't worry he got like a time out for like 3 weeks

[nitrex]

Yes children are known to have a undeveloped liver and kidney. This is why most children who eat leaded paint turn up to have lead poisoning or strange lead symptoms.

[antioldpeopleclub]

well anyway he wasn't actually "exposed" to it

[nitrex]

well then things are ok.

[Svendogga]

You can feeze it with dry ice! and pick the droplets up with twesers. I hope that will help you!

[nitrex]

Well it won't freeze that quick, mercury's solid state is on a very low temprature, pretty low that you would have to freeze it in the snow or arctic at least. Liquid Nitrogen can do the trick.

[slindenau]

Are you just plain stupid? Dry ice = solid carbondioxide, and thats about -78 degrees celcius.

And mercury becomes solid under -40 degrees.

But i agree, liquid nitrogen will do the trick a bit faster.

[nitrex]

Thats not called stupid or plain stupid, thats called misinformation or incorrect information. So now that i corrected your statement, what do you think ?

[mk3snes]

Pretty cool but mercury wouldn't be magnetic because there is no iron in it. at least that's what i think is the rule about magnetism.

[Sladeplyr]

iron, nickel, and colbalt are the only metals that "stick" to metal

[mk3snes]

Thanks I knew that iron wasn't the only one but still either way it wouldn't be magnetic, thanks dude

[Sladeplyr]

nm man, glad to be helpful = )

[nitrex]

Well the reason that mercury cannot be magnetised or magnetic is because unlike Iron or any weak to strong magnetic metal, it does not contain any domains that are aligned to support magnetism. Iron,cobalt and nickel are not the only magnets, you also got rare earth magnets like neodymium.

[bionerd23]

just stumbled over your videos... ;-)

wow, i love this one. mercury is just so beautiful, its really deeply pleasing to see it move.

[nitrex]

Mercury metal its self isn't harmful to hold or touch, of course breathing its vapors can be a problem but not if you limit your self from breathing close to it, but over all mercury metal is safe, most of the mercury poisoning in history wore mostly organic mercury compounds.

[garrett1992004]

Mercury is a very deadly neurotoxin and if you hold in your bare hands, because it's a heavy metal, will "soak" through your skin, get into your blood stream. If that happens there's not much that can medically be done for you. DO NOT HOLD IT!!! IT IS EXTREMELY TOXIC! IT WILL KILL YOU!

[nitrex]

No it can't be absorbed in your skin and i have the methods to also prove it. First the metal is very heavy, its denser then water you should know this by now, the second thing is that mercury cannot react with your skin because its an inert metal. Also no scientist has proved this till now, this was a theory, search it.

[mifinl1]

lol there is a video of a guy holding mercury here too... lol

[Marisaftwffs]

LMFAO, mercury does nothing to your if you hold it for under an hour, dumbass, and the fumes, only if you breathe near it for at least 3 hours it will cause toxation in lungs.

[nitrex]

Nice Video :). I have about 400g of mercury and yes spillage is a problem since you cant pick it up because of its heavy density, i had some mercury spills and i had to use a suction tube etc. Nice video though :) and nice demonstration.

[AScannerClearly]

Yeah, I've always used paper plates to catch the stuff whenever I've had it out of the bottle, and it's paid off every time. I've only that little bit so losing any to spillage would suck. Tried to pick Hg up with an eye dropper but the vacuum just isn't strong enough to keep it from falling back out.

[nitrex]

Yes and another problem is when it gets tiny and tiny. Sometimes that can be either hard to spot or just hard to carry unless you just leave it there, normal i dont leave samples on the floor or anywhere i either sweep it off or make them even smaller.