APPLICATIONS OF MERCURY

Discussion Originally Made by: Gerry Lou Quiles, TO2

I. Introduction
Mainly, mercury as an element is popularly known to be in thermometers. It is also used
in other types of scientific apparatuses, such as vacuum pumps, barometers, and electric
rectifiers and switches. Mercury-vapor lamps are used as a source of ultraviolet light and for
sterilizing water.
Because of the extremely toxic effects of mercury, the use of the metal and its
compounds has been reduced in several industries, including pharmaceuticals, dentistry, and
agriculture.
Even though some don’t use mercury, mercury still is present because of its properties
that make it fit to its applications. So, here are some applications mercury may be applied... and
why does mercury used in this application. I have choose three applications of mercury to be
discussed in this paper: the thermometer, the barometer and the .

II. Mercury in Thermometers

Mercury is used as the temperature medium material in a thermometer. Mercury tends to
make a temperature reading when there is a temperature change and because of this, readings
of the new temperature can be read. So, why mercury can be used as a material in
thermometers? It is because it expands while heated. Remember that it is a liquid and it has the
capability to expand. And its coefficient of expansion is nearly constant—that is, the change in
volume for each degree of rise or fall in temperature is the same.
To understand the concept behind expansion, in physics, solids, liquids and gases
expand when heated. Since mercury is a metallic liquid, it expands when heated. And since the
mercury will expand when it is heated, therefore, the volume will increase. Therefore, the volume
of a liquid is slightly dependent on temperature. Let the volume Vo be the volume of the liquid
when the temperature is To. When the temperature rises the volume will change (for most liquids
the volume will increase)
Providing the temperature increase is not too great the volume of the liquid will change by
an amount -

ΔV = Vo β (T - To)
where the constant β is the thermal expansion coefficient, which accounts for the different liquids
that could possibly be used.

Let us prove that mercury can be used as a temperature medium

material through considering the appropriate design of a
thermometer. In designing an expansion thermometer the most
important fact to bear in mind is the size of the expansion
coefficient; it is always very small. That means that for any
reasonable size thermometer the increase in the volume is very
small. The basic design is shown in figure 1. The liquid is contained
in a spherical bulb at the bottom of the thermometer. In order to
measure the small change in volume the liquid is made to expand
up a thin tube (known as a capillary tube). The height of the column
of liquid which is produced is then given by
h = Volume / Area = β * Vo (T - To) / A
In order to make h as large as possible (so that it can be easily
measured) we would like the following
1. The expansion coefficient to be as large as possible.
Alcohol is therefore better than mercury.
2. The original volume to be as large as possible, without the
thermometer becoming unwieldy
3. The area of the capillary tube (and so also its diameter) to
be as small as possible.

Let us now design a mercury thermometer and let us see if mercury is

convenient to use or not. Suppose we design a mercury thermometer with a
bulb of volume 1 cm3. We would like to make the capillary narrow, so set the
diameter to be 0.3 mm. What would be the height of the column of mercury
produced if the temperature is raised from 10 oC to 80 oC?

• Change in volume = 1.8 x 10-4/ oC * 1 cm3 * (80 oC – 10 oC) = 0.0126

cm3
 • Radius of capillary tube = ½ diameter = 0.15 mm = 0.015 cm
• Area of capillary tube = π r2 = π * (0.015 cm)2 = 0.0007069 cm2
• height = 0.0126 cm3 / 0.0007069 cm2 = 17.8 cm

It is very convenient to use mercury in thermometer based on this example because this
height of the column is large enough to be measured easily. Actually Gabriel Fahrenheit invented
the mercury-in-glass thermometer in 1714.
And now, this is one of the main reasons why mercury is used. Also, other reasons
considered why mercury is used because mercury solidifies or freezes at minus 38.83°C and
does not expand upon solidification and therefore will not break the glass tube of the
thermometer.
But when a thermometer has nitrogen, this gas may flow down the column and will be
trapped there when the temperature increases and thus making the thermometer unusable. To
avoid this thermometer problem, all mercury thermometers must be brought indoors when the
temperature falls to minus 37°C. For places where the maximum temperature does not exceed
minus 38.83°C, you can use a mercury-thallium alloy thermometer which has a solidification point
(freezing point) of minus 61.1°C.
When do you use mercury thermometers? Where do you use mercury-in-glass
thermometers? Mercury thermometers are now often used in meteorology only as many countries
have banned the use of mercury-in-glass thermometers for medical purposes. Some
thermometers use galinstan, a liquid alloy of gallium, indium and tin in place of mercury.

III. Mercury in Barometers

Barometer is an instrument used for measuring atmospheric pressure, that is, the force
exerted on a surface of unit area by the weight of the atmosphere. Because this force is
transmitted equally in all directions through any fluid, it is most easily measured by observing the
height of a column of liquid that, by its weight, exactly balances the weight of the atmosphere. A
water barometer is far too large to be used conveniently. Liquid mercury, however, is 13.6 times
as heavy as water, and the column of mercury sustained by normal atmospheric pressure is only
about 760 mm (about 30 in) high.
Normal, or standard, atmospheric pressure is usually defined at 1013.25 millibars, which
is equivalent to 760 mm (29.9213 in) of mercury or 1.03323 kg/sq cm (14.6960 lb/sq in).
An ordinary mercury barometer consists of a glass
tube about 840 mm (about 33 in) high, closed at the upper
end and open at the lower. When the tube is filled with
mercury and the open end placed in a cup full of the same
liquid, the level in the tube falls to a height of about 760 mm
(about 30 in) above the level in the cup, leaving an almost
perfect vacuum at the top of the tube. Variations in
atmospheric pressure cause the liquid in the tube to rise or
fall by small amounts, rarely below 737 mm (29 in) or above
775 mm (30.5 in) at sea level. When the mercury level is
read with a form of gradated scale, known as a vernier
attachment, and suitable corrections are made for altitude
and latitude (because of the change of gravity), for temperature (because of the expansion or
contraction of the mercury), and for the diameter of the tube (because of capillarity), the reading
of a mercury barometer is reliable to within 0.1 mm (0.004 in).
Actually, this concept was discovered by Evangelista Toriccelli Italian mathematician and
physicist in 1643. A unit of measurement, the torr, which is used by physicists working in near-
vacuum conditions to indicate atmospheric density and barometric pressure, is named after
Torricelli.

V. Other Uses of Mercury

The use of mercury in fluorescent lamps and mercury batteries has also been
significantly reduced as alternatives have been developed. Perhaps most significant is the
substitution of diaphragm cells for traditional mercury cells in chlorine-alkali production, which
once accounted for a large percentage of total mercury consumption.

References:
 http://www.aguidetoasia.com/rss/index.php?itemid=988
 http://physics.csustan.edu/Ian/HowThingsWork/Topics/Temperature/Thermometers/
VolumeExapnsionThermometer.htm
 Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2009