Why mercury is in liquid state while it is metal?
2 Answers
Because God wanted it that way?
Explanation:
Mercury is one of the FEW elemental liquids under standard conditions....the others are bromine, and a few of the lower alkali metals. Despite its existence as a liquid, mercury still exhibits metallic properties....tendency to oxidize, thermal and electrical conductivities....
Mercury is always a metal, whether it is a solid, a liquid, or a gas.
Explanation:
It just happens that the interatomic forces in mercury are weak enough that at room temperature the atoms can slide past each other.
The forces are strong enough that mercury freezes at 39 °C.
Here's a picture of solid mercury melting in the palm of a hand.
Gallium is another metal with weak interatomic forces.
Gallium has a melting point of 30 °C, but the temperature of your hand is 37 °C.
Gallium will melt in your hand.
Other metals that are almost liquids at room temperature are
#"Rb"# , mp. 39 °C#"Cs"# , mp. 28 °C#"Fr"# , mp. 27 °C
However, you wouldn't want to hold one of those metals in the palm of your hand.
