Chemistry Facts 0.2

Hope everyone remembers this character from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Yes! I’m talking about the liquid metal advanced shapeshifting prototypical Terminator, the T-1000. Robert Patrick bleed his acting brilliance in this brutal evil character. But but but……

Spoiler Alert!!

In the following content we are not going to talk about any upcoming Terminator Series movies or Arnold Schwarzenegger either. What we are going to talk is chemistry, pure chemistry. 

Now! Let me explain why I just dropped the terminator in front, it’s because of the liquid metal and the only liquid metal that available to human beings is as toxic as the evil character in that movie. Yes! As you all know mercury is that sole liquid metal on earth in normal temperature and 13.6 times heavier than same volume of water.

                            gif source:gifer.com

Long back in 2000 BC people in India and china discovered this metal. The use of mercury in the ancient civilization can be traced back from the paleolithic painters who use to decorate caves in Spain and France, using mercury sulfide which is also known as Cinnabar or vermilion and the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury. Ko-Hung, a prominent Chinese alchemist who lived in the fourth century, tried smearing mercury on people's feet as he believed that doing so would enable them to walk on water. He also placed it over a doorstep to keep thieves away and even tried combining it with raspberry juice, hoping that it would help elderly men beget children, it seams research don’t have any limits. 

Until the early 20th century, peoples are treated with mercury for syphilis in form of pills, calomel, ointments and steam baths. The side effects of this toxic "treatment" included tooth loss, ulcerations, neurological damage and even death. Mercuric chloride (HgCl₂) — a highly poisonous salt and that was once used as a wound disinfectant. Another example is mercurous chloride (Hg₂Cl₂), also known as calomel – an antiseptic used to kill bacteria, according to the Jefferson Lab. Mercuric oxide (HgO) is used to make mercury batteries.

Coming to today’s world, the hazards have grown many folds than the past. With growing technology, use of mercury have grown up drastically. As a result, toxicity came as a gift to mankind. 

                                                                                                            to be continued............................