Imagine a dry liquid - a liquid you can stick your finger into without getting it wet ! There is such a liquid. It's a melted metal that stays melted even when it's cool ! No other metal does such a thing.
This strange, liquid metal is called mercury. It comes from a sparky red rock called cinnabar that is found near hot springs and volcanoes. If you ever had your temperature taken with a fever thermometer, you have seen one way that mercury is used. The silvery stuff inside the thermometer is mercury. Dentists also use mercury, mixed with silver, to fill cavities in teeth.
Mercury is full of surprises. When a little of it is poured onto a slanting surface, the mercury doesn't trickle down in a stream, as other liquids do. The puddle stays together and just slides downhill ! Given a push, the puddle breaks into hundreds of tiny globs that roll like little balls. And if the globs are all pushed together, they form a puddle again.
Mercury was named after the Roman god Mercury, who was the swift messenger of the gods. But because mercury moves and quivers as if it were alive, it is often called quicksilver, which means live silver.
Mercury is a dangerous poison. It's dangerous to handle because it might get into your mouth and cause sickness. Factories sometimes dump wastes containing mercury into lakes and streams. The mercury then gets into the bodies of fish. If people eat the fish, they may get very sick or even die.
This strange, liquid metal is called mercury. It comes from a sparky red rock called cinnabar that is found near hot springs and volcanoes. If you ever had your temperature taken with a fever thermometer, you have seen one way that mercury is used. The silvery stuff inside the thermometer is mercury. Dentists also use mercury, mixed with silver, to fill cavities in teeth.
Mercury is full of surprises. When a little of it is poured onto a slanting surface, the mercury doesn't trickle down in a stream, as other liquids do. The puddle stays together and just slides downhill ! Given a push, the puddle breaks into hundreds of tiny globs that roll like little balls. And if the globs are all pushed together, they form a puddle again.
Mercury was named after the Roman god Mercury, who was the swift messenger of the gods. But because mercury moves and quivers as if it were alive, it is often called quicksilver, which means live silver.
Mercury is a dangerous poison. It's dangerous to handle because it might get into your mouth and cause sickness. Factories sometimes dump wastes containing mercury into lakes and streams. The mercury then gets into the bodies of fish. If people eat the fish, they may get very sick or even die.
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