Can mercury be flammable?

Mercury is non-combustible. The agent itself does not burn, but it may react upon heating to produce corrosive and/or toxic fumes.

What happens when you heat mercury?

Elemental (Metallic) Mercury At room temperature, exposed elemental mercury can evaporate to become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. If heated, it is a colorless, odorless gas. When mercury reacts with another substance, it forms a compound, such as inorganic mercury salts or methylmercury.

What is mercury reactive with?

Mercury tends to react with particular groups of elements or compounds. It reacts with all halogens, found in group 17 of the periodic table, to form mercury salts. Similarly, mercury reacts with oxidizing acids, such as nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid, because they contain oxygen.

Is mercury explosive?

Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators….Mercury(II) fulminate.

Can mercury combine with oxygen?

Mercury does not combine with oxygen to produce mercury(II) oxide, HgO, at a useful rate until heated to the range of 300 to 350 °C (572 to 662 °F). At temperatures of about 400 °C (752 °F) and above, the reaction reverses with the compound decomposing into its elements.

How is mercury a good conductor of heat?

We know that mercury has a large value of the coefficient of thermal expansion. Hence, even the smallest change in temperature is evident in the shape of the mercury container. All these factors make mercury a good conductor of heat and this is why it has a large application spectrum especially in measuring devices.