Hg
mercury · quicksilver, hydrargyrum
Mercury is a dense, liquid metallic element that exhibits semiconducting electronic properties and high thermodynamic stability.
About mercury
Mercury is a distinct elemental material that occupies a singular position in chemistry due to its unique physical properties. As a thermodynamically stable element, it maintains a consistent structural integrity that has made it a subject of extensive scientific documentation across numerous databases.
This material is recognized for its semiconducting electronic character, which differentiates it from typical metallic conductors. Its ability to exist in a liquid state under standard conditions has historically defined its utility in instrumentation and specialized industrial processes.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for mercury, aggregated across 6 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Hg. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Hg, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.77 | 0.0000 | 0.256 | — |
| Pm-3n (No. 223) | cubic | 0.58 | 0.0000 | 0.257 | — |
| — | — | 0.29 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.15 | 0.0000 | 0.239 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.12 | 0.0000 | 0.239 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 0.12 | 0.0000 | 0.242 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.09 | 0.0000 | 0.243 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.06 | 0.0000 | 0.218 | — |
| P6/mmm (No. 191) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.245 | — |
| I41/amd (No. 141) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.262 | — |
| R-3m (No. 166) | trigonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.241 | — |
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.242 | — |
Applications
Where mercury is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about mercury, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Hg?
Mercury is a dense, liquid metallic element that exhibits semiconducting electronic properties and high thermodynamic stability.
What is Hg used for?
What is the band gap of Hg?
Is Hg a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Hg thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Hg?
How many polymorphs of Hg are known?
What elements does Hg contain?
Where does the data for Hg come from?
How It Compares
As a singular elemental material, mercury stands alone in its class, representing a foundational reference point for heavy metal behavior and unique phase transitions at ambient conditions.
Data sources & attribution
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
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