ThatQuiz Test Library Take this test now
Mercury (element) - Quiz
Contributed by: Costello
  • 1. What is the most common oxidation state of mercury?
A) Mercury(III)
B) Mercury(I)
C) Mercury(0)
D) Mercury(II)
  • 2. What coordination geometry do all four mercuric halides exhibit?
A) Tetrahedral
B) Square planar
C) Linear
D) Octahedral
  • 3. The coordination behavior of mercuric halides is similar to which ion?
A) Zn2+
B) Cd2+
C) Pb2+
D) Ag+
  • 4. What is the physical state of mercury(II) chloride at room temperature?
A) White solid
B) Colorless liquid
C) Red powder
D) Gaseous vapor
  • 5. At what temperature does mercury(II) oxide revert to its elements?
A) Near 200 °C
B) Near 100 °C
C) Near 800 °C
D) Near 400 °C
  • 6. Who demonstrated the heating of mercury(II) oxide to synthesize pure oxygen?
A) Joseph Priestley
B) Antoine Lavoisier
C) Dmitri Mendeleev
D) John Dalton
  • 7. What do attempted isolation studies of mercury(II) hydroxide yield?
A) Mercury metal
B) Mercury oxide
C) Mercury chloride
D) Mercury sulfide
  • 8. What is the natural ore of mercury(II) sulfide?
A) Galena
B) Pyrite
C) Cinnabar
D) Sphalerite
  • 9. Which pigment is formed by mercury(II) sulfide?
A) Prussian blue
B) Ochre
C) Vermilion
D) Ultramarine
  • 10. What is the black zinc blende form of mercury(II) sulfide known as?
A) Metacinnabar
B) Cinnabar
C) Stibnite
D) Galena
  • 11. Which substance is used as an infrared detector material?
A) Mercury(II) oxide
B) Mercury(II) fulminate
C) Mercury cadmium telluride
D) Millon's base
  • 12. What reagent is used to test for ammonia?
A) Fusible white precipitate
B) Mercury(II) fulminate
C) Nessler's reagent
D) Millon's base
  • 13. What was the historical use of mercury(II) fulminate?
A) Infrared detector
B) Catalyst
C) Pigment
D) Primary explosive
  • 14. What has largely replaced mercury(II) fulminate in detonators?
A) Lead azide
B) Ammonia
C) Potassium tetraiodomercurate(II)
D) Mercury(II) chloride
  • 15. What is the average crustal abundance of mercury in parts per million (ppm)?
A) 0.08 ppm
B) 0.01 ppm
C) 0.5 ppm
D) 2.5 ppm
  • 16. What is the rank of mercury in terms of abundance in the Earth's crust?
A) 88th
B) 10th
C) 66th
D) 45th
  • 17. What is the chemical formula for cinnabar?
A) HgS
B) HgO
C) HgSO4
D) Hg2S
  • 18. What is the maximum percentage of mercury found in the richest ores?
A) 2.5%
B) 10%
C) 0.08%
D) 0.1%
  • 19. In what type of geological environment do mercury ores often occur?
A) Glacial valleys
B) Hot springs or volcanic regions
C) Sedimentary sandstone layers
D) Deep ocean trenches
  • 20. In what year did the McDermitt Mine in Nevada close?
A) 1992
B) 2006
C) 2012
D) 1976
  • 21. What was the price of a 76-pound flask of mercury in 2006?
A) $1,000
B) $100
C) $2,200
D) $650
  • 22. How is mercury extracted from cinnabar?
A) Acid leaching
B) Electrolysis
C) Heating in a current of air
D) Cooling in a vacuum
  • 23. In the chemical reaction HgS + O2 → Hg + SO2, what is the sulfur oxidized into?
A) Sulfur gas
B) Sulfate
C) Sulfur trioxide
D) Sulfur dioxide
  • 24. Which country was the top producer of mercury in 2020?
A) Tajikistan
B) Mexico
C) Russia
D) China
  • 25. What percentage of the world's mercury output did China provide in 2020?
A) 88%
B) 50%
C) 10%
D) 25%
  • 26. Which company used prison labor to develop new cinnabar mines in the 1950s?
A) Idrija
B) Almaden
C) Luo Xi
D) McDermitt
  • 27. What specific item were manufacturers trying to produce by reopening cinnabar mines according to a newspaper report?
A) Barometers
B) Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL)
C) Thermometers
D) Batteries
  • 28. What did Santa Clara County convert the Almaden Quicksilver Mine into in 1976?
A) A residential neighborhood
B) A shopping mall
C) An industrial facility
D) A county park
  • 29. What does the chemical symbol Hg stand for?
A) Mercuric
B) Hydrosilver
C) Hydrargyrum
D) Argentum
  • 30. From which language does the name 'hydrargyros' originate?
A) Greek
B) Egyptian
C) Latin
D) Spanish
  • 31. What is the literal meaning of the Greek word 'hydrargyros'?
A) Liquid-metal
B) Water-silver
C) Heavy-metal
D) Fast-silver
  • 32. Which English name for mercury means 'living-silver'?
A) Quicksilver
B) Cinnabar
C) Argentum
D) Hydrargyrum
  • 33. Which Chinese leader was reportedly killed by drinking a mixture of mercury and powdered jade?
A) Daedalus
B) Lewis Carroll
C) Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
D) Qín Shǐ Huáng Dì
  • 34. Where was a pool of mercury found under a marker in a Mesoamerican ballcourt?
A) Teotihuacan
B) Almadén
C) Lamanai
D) Huancavelica
  • 35. According to Aristotle, who used quicksilver to make a statue of Aphrodite move?
A) Lewis Carroll
B) Daedalus
C) Qín Shǐ Huáng Dì
D) Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
  • 36. What was the alchemical goal regarding mercury and base metals?
A) Removing sulfur to create silver
B) Creating an elixir of immortality
C) Turning mercury into jade
D) Transmutation into gold
  • 37. Which process invented in 1558 used mercury to extract silver from ore?
A) Transmutation process
B) Carroting
C) Patio process
D) Amalgamation process
  • 38. What was the purpose of the 'carroting' process?
A) Extracting silver from ore
B) Making felt hats
C) Creating mirrors
D) Healing bone fractures
  • 39. What mercury compound was used in the 'carroting' process?
A) Cinnabar
B) Mercury sulfide
C) Mercuric nitrate
D) Mercury vapor
  • 40. The phrase 'mad as a hatter' is linked to which historical industry?
A) Felt hat making
B) Alchemical research
C) Mirror manufacturing
D) Silver mining
  • 41. When did the U.S. Public Health Service ban mercury in the felt industry?
A) 1941
B) 1813
C) 1786
D) 1558
  • 42. What was the primary site of mercury production for the Spanish colonies in the New World?
A) Monte Amiata
B) Almadén
C) Idrija
D) Huancavelica
  • 43. What was the result of exposure to mercury vapor in traditional Chinese and Tibetan practices?
A) Longer life
B) Healing of fractures
C) Serious adverse health effects
D) Improved mobility
  • 44. Which ruler famously built a basin filled with mercury to rock himself to sleep?
A) Daedalus
B) Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
C) Qín Shǐ Huáng Dì
D) Lewis Carroll
  • 45. In what type of item did the ancient Egyptians and Romans use cinnabar?
A) Hat felt
B) Cosmetics
C) Mirrors
D) Alchemical elixirs
  • 46. What is the atomic number of mercury?
A) 79
B) 82
C) 81
D) 80
  • 47. Which body systems are affected by mercury toxicity?
A) Digestive, skeletal, and muscular
B) Respiratory, circulatory, and endocrine
C) Integumentary, lymphatic, and reproductive
D) Nervous, immune, and kidneys
  • 48. Who discovered that mercury is a superconductor?
A) Albert Einstein
B) Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
C) Isaac Newton
D) Marie Curie
  • 49. In what year was mercury's superconductivity discovered?
A) 1905
B) 1925
C) 1911
D) 1899
  • 50. Compared to other metals, how does mercury conduct heat?
A) It does not conduct heat at all
B) It is a poor conductor
C) It is an excellent conductor
D) It is a fair conductor equal to copper
  • 51. What happens to the volume of mercury when it freezes?
A) It doubles
B) It decreases by 3.59%
C) It remains exactly the same
D) It increases by 3.59%
  • 52. What chemical symbol represents mercury?
A) Me
B) Hg
C) My
D) Ag
  • 53. Which of the following describes solid mercury?
A) Brittle and hard
B) Highly reactive and unstable
C) Malleable and ductile
D) Gaseous and invisible
  • 54. What metal is the only other element liquid at standard temperature and pressure?
A) Rubidium
B) Gallium
C) Bromine
D) Caesium
  • 55. What are the scientific applications for which mercury is still used?
A) Food preservation
B) Water purification
C) Rocket fuel
D) Scientific research
  • 56. At what temperature was mercury's superconductivity observed?
A) Below 4 K
B) Exactly 0 °C
C) At room temperature
D) Above 100 K
  • 57. Which form of mercury is particularly noted for causing mercury poisoning?
A) Cinnabar crystals
B) Solid mercury
C) Mercury vapor at room temperature
D) Methylmercury
  • 58. What occurs when electricity passes through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp?
A) Visible light is produced directly
B) Infrared radiation is released
C) Short-wave ultraviolet light is produced
D) The mercury turns into solid metal
  • 59. Which metal is mercury more stable than?
A) Platinum
B) Zinc
C) Gold
D) Silver
  • 60. Which metal is traditionally used to make flasks for transporting mercury?
A) Silver
B) Iron
C) Gold
D) Platinum
  • 61. Which element does not readily form an amalgam with mercury?
A) Silver
B) Platinum
C) Sodium
D) Gold
  • 62. How many stable isotopes of mercury are there?
A) Four
B) Seven
C) Two
D) Ten
  • 63. Which stable isotope of mercury is the most abundant?
A) 201Hg
B) 206Hg
C) 199Hg
D) 202Hg
  • 64. What is the half-life of the longest-lived radioisotope of mercury, 194Hg?
A) 46.612 days
B) 444 years
C) 24 hours
D) 100 years
  • 65. Which radioisotope of mercury occurs naturally in traces as a decay product of 238U?
A) 203Hg
B) 194Hg
C) 206Hg
D) 199Hg
  • 66. Mercury reacts with which atmospheric gas, similar to silver?
A) Carbon dioxide
B) Nitrogen
C) Hydrogen sulfide
D) Oxygen
  • 67. Where is mercury a natural component, leading to potential contact with processing equipment?
A) Hydrocarbon reservoirs
B) Ocean sediments
C) Atmospheric dust
D) Volcanic vents
  • 68. What is the common name for the colorless solid mercury(I) chloride?
A) vermilion
B) corrosive sublimate
C) calomel
D) cinnabar
  • 69. What is the chemical formula for mercury(I) chloride?
A) Hg2Cl
B) HgCl2
C) Hg2Cl2
D) HgCl
  • 70. How do mercury(I) compounds differ from those of cadmium and zinc?
A) They are all gaseous
B) They form metal-metal bonds
C) They do not form cations
D) They are never diamagnetic
  • 71. What happens when ligands like cyanide are added to aqueous solutions of mercury(I) salts?
A) The solution becomes highly magnetic
B) Disproportionation goes to completion
C) No chemical reaction occurs
D) The mercury(I) ion stabilizes
  • 72. What is the formula of mercury(I) hydride?
A) Hg2H2
B) Hg2H
C) HgH2
D) HgH
  • 73. What is the connectivity of the mercury(I) chloride molecule?
A) Hg-Hg-Cl-Cl
B) Hg-Cl-Cl-Hg
C) Cl-Hg-Hg-Cl
D) Cl-Cl-Hg-Hg
  • 74. Under what conditions are HgF3 and HgF4 predicted to exist?
A) Extreme pressures
B) Standard atmospheric pressure
C) Extreme vacuum
D) High humidity
  • 75. What process is responsible for the creation of methylmercury in water?
A) Electrolysis
B) Photodegradation
C) Oxidation
D) Biomethylation
  • 76. Which mercury-containing organohalide is still widely used but banned in the U.S.?
A) Merbromin
B) Cinnabar
C) Calomel
D) Mercuric chloride
  • 77. What was mercuric chloride once used to treat?
A) Toothaches
B) Depression
C) Constipation
D) Syphilis
  • 78. In what form are organomercury compounds usually found if they have the formula HgRX?
A) Gases
B) Solids
C) Liquids
D) Plasma
  • 79. What common dental material still contains mercury?
A) Orthodontic wire
B) Dental amalgams
C) Fluoride varnish
D) Dental crowns
  • 80. What is the common name for the mercury-based preservative used in vaccines?
A) Thiomersal
B) Thimerisol
C) Thiomercuro
D) Mercuro-preserv
  • 81. What health condition was speculatively linked to vaccine preservatives?
A) Anemia
B) Diabetes
C) Autism
D) Asthma
  • 82. Which child vaccine exception still contains thiomersal?
A) Measles vaccine
B) Inactivated influenza vaccine
C) Chickenpox vaccine
D) Polio vaccine
  • 83. What is the primary medical use of Merbromin?
A) Skin whitener
B) Laxative
C) Diuretic
D) Topical antiseptic
  • 84. What class of drugs has largely replaced mercury-based diuretics?
A) Thiazides
B) Statins
C) Antibiotics
D) Antihistamines
  • 85. What is the legal limit of mercury concentration in skin whiteners according to the Minamata Convention?
A) 5 parts per million
B) 1 part per million
C) 0.5 parts per million
D) 10 parts per million
  • 86. What is one purpose of mercury as an active ingredient in skin products?
A) Depigmenting skin
B) Reducing acne
C) Treating eczema
D) Increasing collagen
  • 87. What is the status of mercury use in medicine in developed countries?
A) Mandatory in clinics
B) Greatly declined
C) Increasing rapidly
D) Completely forbidden
  • 88. What is a common alternative to mercury that is less toxic but more expensive?
A) Lead alloy
B) Galinstan alloy
C) Silver alloy
D) Copper alloy
  • 89. Who invented the mercury thermometer in the early 18th century?
A) Robert Boyle
B) Isaac Newton
C) Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
D) Galileo Galilei
  • 90. What liquid was used in the earlier designs of temperature-measuring instruments before mercury?
A) Oil
B) Glycerin
C) Water
D) Alcohol
  • 91. Which protocol led to the banning of many mercury-containing instruments?
A) 2005 Climate Accord
B) 1985 Mercury Treaty
C) 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals
D) 2010 Industrial Safety Act
  • 92. What is the triple point of mercury used for?
A) Measuring electrical conductivity
B) Determining boiling points
C) Calibration of pressure sensors
D) Temperature standard for the ITS-90
  • 93. Why was the mercury battery commonly used in camera light meters?
A) Extreme lightweight
B) Fast recharging speed
C) Ability to be recycled
D) Constant voltage output
  • 94. Which modern technology is an alternative to mercury thermometers?
A) Thermistor sensors
B) Galvanometers
C) Simple water gauges
D) Pressure-sensitive springs
  • 95. What color do neon-filled tubes with mercury eventually reach after the burning-in process?
A) Pure yellow
B) Steady crimson red
C) Consistent dull off-blue
D) Bright neon green
  • 96. Why were mercury batteries mostly banned in the 1990s?
A) They were too expensive to produce
B) Better lithium technology was cheaper
C) Concerns about contaminating landfills
D) They often caught fire
  • 97. What was the main disadvantage of using mercury in ion engines?
A) Environmental impact during ground testing
B) It is a solid at room temperature
C) It has very low molecular weight
D) It is impossible to store
  • 98. What element eventually replaced mercury as the preferred propellant for ion engines?
A) Xenon
B) Argon
C) Neon
D) Helium
  • 99. Which space mission was the first to use a mercury-fueled ion thruster?
A) Mariner 4
B) Apollo 11
C) SERT-1
D) Voyager 1
  • 100. What device uses mercury in a linear ion-trap to create compact atomic clocks?
A) Deep Space Atomic Clock
B) SERT-2
C) Schiller Station
D) UNIVAC I
Created with That Quiz — the math test generation site with resources for other subject areas.