I have done an experiment in which mercury engulfs silver and when we added sulfur it turns to black and after the incineration process at 650-degree celsius for 3 hours, we obtained a black color compound which is silver sulfide (through XRD).
I want to know what happens when metallic mercury engulfs silver and how it reacts with sulfur.
Vineet Sharma An amalgam is a loose combination of mercury with other metals via metallic bonding. Some interesting effects can take place. For example, aluminum doesn't react with water normally due to a thin mordant coating of oxide. When Al is amalgamated with mercury then its true activity shows and it reacts like sodium. Much of this information can be found in a good inorganic chemistry textbook or via Google.
Vineet Sharma I will answer as I did in your PM.
Any good inorganic chemistry text will answer your question. Mercury reacts with silver to form an amalgam and the sulfur reacts with the silver forming silver sulfide. Heating at 650 C removed the mercury by volatilization leaving the silver sulfide behind. Your experiment is potentially highly dangerous releasing mercury vapor into the environment.
Alan F Rawle Thanks, and A.K. Azad I think you didn't understand my question. You did just google and paste in the comment box.
Hi Vineet Sharma, Alan F Rawle already gave a very good and comprehensive answer to your question. I might add that elemental mercury and sulfur also react directly under formation of mercury sulfide, HgS. However, this decomposes above its melting point of 580 °C. Thus in the end the mercury will evaporate and black silver sulfide stays behind. I too hope that you carried out this experiment in a well-ventilated fume hood!
Frank T. Edelmann Yes, the (low temperature) decomposition of HgS is so well-known that I didn't bother to mention it.
BTW, the joke is: 'From where do you get mercury' with the answer 'H G Wells'...
Thanks, Frank T. Edelmann and Alan F Rawle ..Sir, how mercury engulfs silver? What is the chemistry behind it?
Vineet Sharma An amalgam is a loose combination of mercury with other metals via metallic bonding. Some interesting effects can take place. For example, aluminum doesn't react with water normally due to a thin mordant coating of oxide. When Al is amalgamated with mercury then its true activity shows and it reacts like sodium. Much of this information can be found in a good inorganic chemistry textbook or via Google.
Hi Vineet Sharma, silver and mercury show a strong tendeny to form a soft alloy named silver amalgam. Silver amalgam is very soft and ductile and it is often used in dentistry to fill cavities in teeth. Thus "engulfment" is just another name for formation of the alloy.
I dont know about mercury+_silver, but I know a little about mercury+sulphur.
We all know how treacherously mercury can spill, collecting all the droplets practically impossible. The wishful-thinking legend says that if you sprinkle fine sulphur powder on the floor, it will convert the mercury to red mercury sulfide. Wishful thinking indeed! I dropped a drop of mercury into a jar containing powder sulphur. After a month its shiny surface became dull, covered by merely a delicate haze3 of the pink color. No luck, that legend is just a legend.
Dear Jerry P. Czarnecki, this is a very good point indeed! You are 100% right in that it is a wishful-thinkings legend that it is possible to bind spilled mercury with sulfur,. The same is true for zinc powder or iodine-containing active charcoal. All these old recipes should be abandoned! The video cited below illustrates the "no-reaction" between mercury and sulfur powder. Unfortunately these guys carry out the experiment on their kitchen table!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct2NwIp26d4
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
- Nanoparticle Research