Mercury was also used by several chemists, including Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Joseph Priestley, and Humphry Davy to discover other elements. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to 1,602 x 10-19 coulombs. ![]() Total number of protons in the nucleus is called the atomic number of the atom and is given the symbol Z. Most of the remaining 40 radioisotopes have half-lives that are less than a day. Mercury is a chemical element with atomic number 80 which means there are 80 protons in its nucleus. The longest-lived radioisotopes are 194 Hg with a half-life of 444 years, and 203 Hg with a half-life of 46.612 days. It is often used as a symbol of medicine, especially in the United States, despite its ancient and consistent associations with trade, liars, thieves, eloquence, negotiation, alchemy, and wisdom. There are seven stable isotopes of mercury (80 Hg) with 202 Hg being the most abundant (29.86). The smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun, Mercury is only slightly larger than Earths Moon. It was also used by the miners to obtain gold from the New Almaden Mines during the California Gold Rush in 1848. The caduceus is the traditional symbol of Hermes and features two snakes winding around an often winged staff. In ancient times, mercury was known as quicksilver, and it was believed to be able to shift between liquid and solid states. Although the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and is never depicted with wings, is the traditional and more widely used symbol of medicine, the Caduceus is sometimes used. In either case, this alchemy symbol represents the mind, as well as a state that could transcend death. The caduceus is also used as a symbol representing printing, again by extension of the attributes of Mercury (in this case associated with writing and eloquence). ![]() The Spanish conquerors in the Americas obtained cinnabar from the mercury deposits at Huancavelica in Peru to extract gold. Mercury (which is also one of the seven planetary metals) can mean both the element and the planet. As a liquid, the mercury would dissolve gold that could be recovered through distillation of mercury. The metal was widely used by the ancient people as a liquid to extract gold from the sediment of rivers. The early humans used cinnabar (mercury sulfide) to decorate the caves in France and Spain with paintings during the Paleolithic era about 30,000 years ago. Who discovered it: The element was probably discovered thousands of years ago and used by the ancient people in India, China, and Egypt, as it has been found in trace amounts in the 3500-year-old Egyptian tombs. Origin of its Name: It is named after ‘Mercury’, the fastest planet in the solar system to revolve around the Sun while its chemical symbol is derived from ‘hydrargyrum’, Greek for “liquid silver”
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