Posted October 24, 2019
Quicksilver!
The name is pretty romantic, and you can see from this video (around the 1:44 mark) why the element mercury used to be called this.
A lot less romantic label for mercury is neurotoxin! It's a really, really dangerous heavy metal that poisons brains and nerves!
That's why it is so so so so so important not to throw things with mercury in them into the trash! Instead, old thermometers, thermostats, and lightbulbs should be carefully recycled. In my community, I would take these items to my local hazardous household waste disposal site. For more possibilities for proper recycling or disposal, check this website.
Mercury is just a very odd element - the only metal that is liquid at room temperature! It's such a dense liquid, many metal objects can float in mercury. Small amounts of mercury on a surface form balls (larger amounts flatten out because of gravity), and liquid mercury doesn't get anything that touches it wet.
To see all of these weird characteristics and to learn more about mercury, check out the videos of mercury put up by Taofledermaus, like this one.
Also on this date:
Food Day in the U.S.A.
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