| MERCURY: a material on the edge between being solid and liquid  |
| MERCURY |
Mercury, also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum is a chemical element with the symbol Hg (Latinized Greek: hydrargyrum, from "hydr-" meaning watery or runny and "argyros" meaning silver) and atomic number 80. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions isbromine. With a freezing point of −38.83 °C and boiling point of 356.73 °C, mercury has one of the broadest ranges of its liquid state of any metal. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is also one of the five metallic chemical elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure, the others beingcaesium, francium, gallium, and rubidium.
