Chemical Properties of Mercury
Everything that is best in life comes in pairs; socks, shoes, people, and thanks to Mercury’s “different” makeup, it gets 2 ions! An ion is an element with a charge. This occurs during bonding or losing electrons. Mercury’s 2 ions, Mercury (II) Hg2+ and mercury (I) (Hg2)2+ have fairly different properties. (Hg2)2+ is a covalent bonder with 2 metals atoms and is diatomic and stable. Since it is a covalent bonder, it shares its 2 electrons between the 2 metal atoms (Encyclopedia Britannica). Although it is used in mercury chloride, the compounds of Mercury (I) are few Mercury (II), however, is used more frequently. Though colorless and odorless, and very toxic, it mostly makes its appearances in agriculture fungicide, antiseptics, and the production of mercury salts.