# What does mercury \_feel\_ like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322 "2008-04-07T15:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/41 "2008-04-08T04:22:04Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Mercury exposure has been a big issue for back-country gold miners, or used to be. Apparently mercury can be used in a very low-tech setting to “sop up” gold that’s hard to extract otherwise, but in the process the miners get a heavy dose of the stuff. [/QUOTE] For the longest time, mercury amalgamation was _the_ choice for getting gold out of rock. Baser metals like silver, copper, and lead would be found in sulfide or oxide ores which would have to be reduced to drive off the offending substance. Gold, on the other hand would be more or less pure – it was often alloyed with silver or copper but none of those pesky sulfides or oxides. Gold ore processing was largely a mechanical process, grinding the gold-bearing rock to powder then passing it over a riffle table with mercury in the bottom of the riffles. The gold particles, being heavy, would sink to the bottom of the riffles where it would amalgamate with the mercury there. The fairly solid amalgam would be periodically dug out of the riffles and sent to a refinery where the mercury was separated and sent back to the processor, and the gold refined to a more pure form. (Man this is getting long-winded) As you can imagine, the recovery of the mercury was not 100% efficient. When I lived in Carson City, I was near the Carson River, just upstream from where the mills for the Comstock Lode were located. The mills are long-gone with just the foundations remaining, but it is highly advised against eating any fish caught from that point downstream for quite a ways due to their mercury content, methyl mercury being the chief worry. I personally have never handled mercury. I have pictured myself on my deathbed saying, “Okay, bring in that Hg flask – I’m ready.” ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/42 "2008-04-08T05:26:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] Have any of you seen the [mercury fountain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1FnF5zUPEE) at the Joan Miro Foundation in Barcelona? Pretty damn cool. [/QUOTE] Very cool. Is the pool filled with water, to reduce vapours, and does the mercury gather at the bottom to be pumped up again? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/43 "2008-04-08T05:50:39Z")
I remember playing with mercury, from broken thermometers, when I was a kid in the 50s, before people knew about the danger. I remember having a blob of it on the palm of my hand, then smashing it into lots of little droplets. Then moving the droplets close together, and as soon as they touched they immediately became one new drop. I don’t recall any particular sensation from holding it though, just the sensation of it rolling around on the skin. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/44 "2008-04-08T06:56:00Z")
What everybody says–playing with mercury was fun. Dip your finger into it, it sort of massages your finger in a way that water doesn’t, and it feels wet. Take your finger out, and it’s dry! Hold it in the palm of your hand, it rolls around. It splits a lot more easily when it’s warmer so it’s more dangerous then, so we weren’t allowed to pass it around for too long. I think the science teacher kept it in a chilly place–not the refrigerator, but someplace cool. We also turned several pennies into shiny silver pennies. –Hilarity, still alive 40 years later ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/45 "2008-04-08T17:01:26Z")
[QUOTE=Hilarity N. Suze] We also turned several pennies into shiny silver pennies. [/QUOTE] Yeah… how’d you do that, anyway? I’d always heard it could be done, but everytime I tried it the mercury just rolled away from the penny. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/46 "2008-04-08T17:40:36Z")
\>Yeah… how’d you do that, anyway? I’d always heard it could be done, but everytime I tried it the mercury just rolled away from the penny. Cup the penny and a 5 to 10 mm blob of mercury in the palm of one hand and keep rubbing the penny and trying to push the blob up against it with the other index finger. It doesn’t feel like the mercury is grabbing onto the copper, but it still works. Though, I haven’t done this since pennies started being copper plated instead of solid - anybody know that it still works on new pennies? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/47 "2008-04-08T22:02:27Z")
I have a liter of mercury in a bottle :eek: 😃 and can add a sensation: due to its extreme density, plunging your hand into it will give you a squeeze like your hand in a bucket of sand…the mercury is pushing your hand to the surface: everything floats in mercury. > **[Facts, pictures, stories about the element Mercury in the Periodic Table](https://theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/080/)** > > Mercury at The Wooden Periodic Table Table by Theodore Gray ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/48 "2008-04-09T00:37:43Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Very cool. Is the pool filled with water, to reduce vapours, and does the mercury gather at the bottom to be pumped up again? [/QUOTE] It didn’t look like there was any water used, it all seemed to be pure mercury. The fountain is actually contained in a glass box to contain the vapours. I assume the air inside is saturated. It did seem that the mercury was pumped in a cycle. The pump would need to be fairly strong and/or large, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/49 "2008-04-09T00:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Using Gallium to mold things sounds like a really neat idea. “Hey, you melted my antique toy soldier!” [/QUOTE] Aw heck. I just found the following [here](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/031/index.s7.html) : > [@](#): > > Unfortunately, it stains your hands and is hard to get off, so I don’t recommend it. In fact, it stains or sticks to just about anything, which is very irritating because it would otherwise make a very nice substitute for mercury where a liquid metal is called for. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/50 "2008-04-09T01:58:17Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] BTW: Issac Asimov seemed to be a fan of [Gallium](http://chemistry.about.com/od/elementfacts/a/gallium.htm). It melts at 29.8 degrees C, so he says you can take a chunk of it and melt it into your palm, then play with it like Mercury (only it’s lighter). Asimov didn’t know if Gallium was toxic or not, and apparently we still aren’t entirely sure, but it’s not obviously so. It’s not all that cheap, but you [can get it](http://www.emovendo.net/magnets/gallium/) . [/QUOTE] I have some Gallium, it’s neat. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/51 "2008-04-09T23:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hilarity N. Suze] We also turned several pennies into shiny silver pennies [/QUOTE] Ok, using mercury instead of KY is all fun and games, but when you coat pennies in the stuff and release them back into general circulation (for kids to stick up their nose or whatnot), isn’t **that** dangerous? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/52 "2008-04-09T23:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=Alex\_Dubinsky] Ok, using mercury instead of KY is all fun and games, but when you coat pennies in the stuff and release them back into general circulation (for kids to stick up their nose or whatnot), isn’t **that** dangerous? [/QUOTE] Most people have mercury in their **mouth** , so I’d think not… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/53 "2008-04-14T13:59:39Z")
[Man dead from mercury exposure, while trying to reclaim gold.](http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2008/04/01/news/doc47f14876d8777987127925.txt) This is why even though people don’t die just because they handled it, you should not use it if possible. I wish I could find the U.S. funded Peruvian expeditionary report to Congress I once stumbled upon. It described the gold extraction rooms which were full of mercury, and the health of peóns working there. The process implementation as described was unbelievable even for that period. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/54 "2008-04-14T14:04:30Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Most people have mercury in their **mouth** , so I’d think not… [/QUOTE] Most people have mercury \*amalgam \*in their mouth, don’t they? All bound up (probably) safely with other metal? Not quite the same thing as liquid mercury. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/55 "2008-04-14T15:03:05Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Most people have mercury \*amalgam \*in their mouth, don’t they? All bound up (probably) safely with other metal? Not quite the same thing as liquid mercury. [/QUOTE] The reference was to a coated penny. Isn’t that an amalgam also? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/56 "2008-04-14T15:20:45Z")
[QUOTE=flex727] The reference was to a coated penny. Isn’t that an amalgam also? [/QUOTE] Oh. I have no idea. From what was said, it sounded like someone was smooshing mercury onto the penny to coat it in a layer of mercury like I might do with Play-doh. I didn’t realize he was talking about making the mercury chemically react with…the copper? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/57 "2008-04-14T15:49:05Z")
Mercury has the odd property that it alloys with most other metals from contact at room temperatures. The reason the coating on the mercury penny seems more or less permanent is that the mercury forms an amalgam with the metal in the coin. Mercury amalgams can emit mercury vapor over time, too, but I seriously doubt that occasional exposure to a mercury coated penny really represents any significant danger - the amount of actual mercury picked up by the penny has to be tiny. As noted, many of us have carried dental amalgams around in our mouths for years, and they DO emit some mercury vapor over time. Most studies suggest that hysteria over dental amalgams (widespread, just google for it) is just that, though - hysteria. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/58 "2008-04-14T17:22:49Z")
I was just looking up stuff about mercury yesterday. Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world and it is harmless in an insoluble form, such as mercuric sulfide, but it is poisonous in soluble forms such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury (from Wiki). Where “thermometer mercury” falls into this is unknown to me, but I played with A LOT of mercury when I was a kid. We’d smash a bunch of thermometers and get a big-ass ball of mercury about the size of a quarter and would have all kinds of fun with it. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/59 "2008-04-15T06:02:41Z")
“Thermometer” mercury is pure metallic mercury, so I guess it can end up in any form, depending on what molecules it happens to react with in your body, or elsewhere. It’s clearly not harmless, but as has been noted, the worst danger seems to be prolonged exposure. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322/60 "2008-04-15T17:50:00Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Mercury has the odd property that it alloys with most other metals from contact at room temperatures. The reason the coating on the mercury penny seems more or less permanent is that the mercury forms an amalgam with the metal in the coin. [/QUOTE] My Mom broke a thermometer and the mercury immediately coated her wedding band. She took it to the jeweler to get it removed; how would that work? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-mercury-_feel_-like/444322.md?page=4)