10 obscure, forgotten, and bizarre Uses of mercury

1. Mercury
Arcana
10 Obscure, Forgotten, and Bizarre
Uses of Element Number 80
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2. The Unique Properties of
Mercury
High Density Liquid at
Room Temperature
Conducts Electricity
Forms Amalgams Reflective Surface
Can you identify the properties employed
in each of the following uses of mercury?
Chemical
Properties

3. Mercury
Fountain
Designed by Alexander Calder for the 1937
World Exhibition in Paris, the work
memorializes Franco's siege of the mercury
mines of Almaden, Spain. It is now displayed
at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona.
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4. Liquid
Mirror
Telescope
A thin layer of mercury forms a concave,
reflective surface on a spinning disc, creating
a large, precise mirror that is cheaper than
glass. This mirror is for the Large Zenith
Telescope in British Columbia, Canada.
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5. Tennis
Elbow
Shock
Absorber
According to the manufacturer, mercury
sealed inside the module "produces a
counterwave action that effectively
neutralizes vibrations whenever your arm
receives a shock."
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6. Separation
of Lithium
Isotopes
Lithium­6 forms an amalgam with mercury
more readily than other isotopes. The Colex
process exploited this to produce lithium­6 for
use in hydrogen bombs. As much as 1000 tons
of mercury were lost to the environment at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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7. Laxative
Despite it's toxicity, the mercury compound
calomel was once used as a laxative. American
explorers Lewis and Clark took calomel pills
nicknamed "thunderclappers" on their
expedition. Today their campsites can still be
identified from high mercury levels in the soils.
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8. Primary
Explosive
Mercury fulminate was used as an explosive
in detonators and primers until the mid­20th
century. In the TV series Breaking Bad, Walter
White prepares mercury fulminate and uses it
to blow up the office of a rival drug dealer.
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9. Working
Fluid for
Power
Generation
Because of its thermal and material
properties, mercury was investigated as a
working fluid in power plants. Several pilot
plants were built, but advances in steam­only
designs as well as engineering and safety
challenges soon made them obsolete.
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Popular Science, March 1931
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10. Flotation
Bearing for
Turntable
For years, mercury was used as a bearing for
heavy lighthouse lenses, allowing them to
rotate while floating on the liquid metal. In
1986 ingenious audiophile Jacques Marteau
used the same principle for this turntable with
a belt­driven platter that floats on mercury.
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www.bonavolta.ch
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11. Spallation
Neutron
Souce
This vessel contains 20 tons of liquid mercury.
When bombarded with a high­energy proton
beam, neutrons spall from the mercury and
are then used in in research experiments
in physics, chemistry, materials science, and
biology.
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Oak Ridge National Lab
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12. Firearm
Recoil
Reducer
A cylinder containing mercury mounted in the
stock of a rifle or shotgun can reduce recoil.
When the stock is pushed back after firing,
the liquid mercury moves in the opposite
direction, helping to dampen the impact on
the shoulder.
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13. Mercury is a toxic
substance and a
global pollutant
For more information on global efforts to
reduce mercury pollution, visit the
UNEP Global Mercury Partnership
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