Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Quicksilver |
QuicksilverAdjective1. Liable to sudden unpredictable change; "erratic behavior"; "fickle weather"; "mercurial twists of temperament"; "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next". Noun1. A heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "quicksilver" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Etymology: Quicksilver \Quick"sil`ver\, noun. [Quick living + silver; -- so called from its fluidity; compare to German quecksilber, Latin argentum vivum. See Quick, adjective]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Quicksilver |
Literature | Quicksilver is argentum vivum (living silver) silver that moves about like a living thing. (Anglo-Saxon, cwicseolfor.) "Swift as quicksilver It courses through the natural gates And alleys of the body." Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 5. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Mining | A common name for mercury. Syn:native mercury. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Mercury, also called quicksilver, is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery, toxic, transition metal, mercury is one of only two elements that are liquid at everyday temperature (the other is Bromine) and is used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus. Mercury is mostly obtained by reduction from the mineral cinnabar.
General Name, Symbol, Number Mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12 (IIB), 6 , d Density, Hardness 13579.04 kg/m3, 1.5 Appearance Silvery white Atomic Properties Atomic weight 200.59 amu Atomic radius (calc.) 150 (171) pm Covalent radius 149 pm van der Waals radius 155 pm Electron configuration [Xe]44f14 5d10 6s2 e- 's per energy level 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 2 Oxidation states (Oxide) 2, 1 (mildly basic) Crystal structure Rhombohedral Physical Properties State of matter Liquid (__) Melting point 234.32 K (-37.89 °F) Boiling point 629.88 K (674.11 °F) Molar volume 14.09 ×1010-3 m3/mol Heat of vaporization 59.229 kJ/mol Heat of fusion 2.295 kJ/mol Vapor pressure 0.0002 Pa at 234 K Speed of sound 1407 m/s at 293.15 K Miscellaneous Electronegativity 2.00 (Pauling scale) Specific heat capacity 140 J/(kg*K) Electrical conductivity 1.04 106/m ohm Thermal conductivity 8.34 W/(m*K) 1st ionization potential 1007.1 kJ/mol 2nd ionization potential 1810 kJ/mol 3rd ionization potential 3300 kJ/mol Most Stable Isotopes
iso NA half-life DM DE MeV DP 194Hg {syn.} 444 y &epsilon 0.040 194Au 196Hg 0.15% Hg is stable with 116 neutrons 198Hg 9.97% Hg is stable with 118 neutrons 199Hg 16.87% Hg is stable with 119 neutrons 200Hg 23.1% Hg is stable with 120 neutrons 201Hg 13.18% Hg is stable with 121 neutrons 202Hg 29.86% Hg is stable with 122 neutrons 204Hg 6.87% Hg is stable with 124 neutrons SI units & STP are used except where noted.
Notable Characteristics
Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white univalent and bivalent transition metal that is a relatively poor conductor of heat but a decent conductor of electricity and is the only common metal that is liquid at room temperature (forming an opaque glistening liquid).Mercury easily forms alloys with almost all common metals, including gold and silver but not iron. Any of these alloys is called an amalgam.
The freezing point of mercury is -40 ° Celsius which is the same as -40 ° Fahrenheit. This is the only point at which these two temperature scales coincide.
This metal also has uniform volumetric thermal expansion, is less reactive than zinc and cadmium and does not displace hydrogen from acids. Common oxidation states of this element are; mercurous, or +1, and mercuric, or +2. Rare instances of +3 mercury compounds exist.
Applications
Most mercury is used for the manufacture of industrial chemicals and for electrical and electronic applications. In addition, mercury is widely used in thermometers, especially ones which are used to measure high temperatures. Other uses;Miscellaneous uses; mercury switches, pesticides, dental amalgams/preparations, mercury cells for caustic soda and chlorine production, anti-fouling paint, electrode in some types of electrolysis, batteries (mercury cells), and catalysts.
- The ease with which it forms amalgams with gold has resulted in its use in gold recovery from ores.
- In addition to thermometers, mercury is used in barometers, diffusion pumps, and many other laboratory instruments.
- The triple point of mercury, -38.8344 °C, is a fixed point used as a temperature standard for the International Temperature Scale (ITS-90).
- Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapor lamps and advertising signs.
History
Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese and Hindus and was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500s BC. By 500 BC it was used to make amalgams with other metals. The ancient Greekss used this toxic metal in ointments and the Romans used it in cosmetics. Alchemists thought it to be the stuff from which all matter was formed and they also thought that when it hardened it turned into gold.In the 18th and 19th centuries, mercury nitrate was used to remove fur from the animal skins from which felt hats were made. This caused many cases of brain damage among hatters, or milliners, leading, it is claimed, to the simile "as mad as a hatter", and thereby to the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame.
It was named by alchemists after the Roman god Mercury. Its symbol Hg comes from hydrargyrum, a Latinised form of the Greek word hydrargyros, which was a compound word whose Greek roots meant 'water' and 'silver'. Mercury is one of the few elements that has an alchemical symbol. If you have the right browser and font to support Unicode, you should see the symbol here: ☿.
Occurrence
A rare element in the earth's crust, mercury is found either as a native metal (rare) or in cinnabar, corderoite, livingstonite, and other minerals with cinnabar (HgS) being the most common ore. Approximately 50% of the global supply comes from Spain and Italy with much of the rest coming from Yugoslavia, Russia, and North America. The metal is extracted by heating cinnabar in a current of air and by condensing the vapor.Compounds
The most important salts are:Organic mercury compoundss are also important. Laboratory test have found that electrical discharge causes the noble gases neon, argon, krypton, and xenon to combine with mercury vapor. The products of this combination are held together with van der Waals forces and result in HgNe, HgAr, HgKr, and HgXe. Methyl mercury is a dangerous compound that is widely found as a pollutant in water bodies and streams.
- mercury chloride (which is very corrosive, sublimates and is a violent poison)
- mercurous chloride (which is calomel and is sometimes still used in medicine)
- mercury fulminate, (a detonator widely used in explosives), and
- mercuric sulfide (used to make vermilion which is a high-grade paint pigment).
Isotopes
There are seven stable isotopes of mercury with Hg-202 being the most abundant (26.86%). The longest-lived radioisotopes are Hg-194 with a half-life of 444 years, and Hg-203 with a half-life of 46.612 days. Most of the remaining radioisotopes have half-lifes that are less than a day.Precautions
Mercury is highly toxic in both liquid and gaseous forms. This is a toxic heavy metal that causes brain and liver damage if it is ingested. For this reason, thermometers which are only intended to measure typical climatic temperatures now use pigmented alcohol instead; the boiling point of alcohol is higher than any natural temperature expected on Earth. Some medical thermometers still use mercury, for reason of accuracy. Care must be exercised not to bite such a thermometer. The commercial unit for handling mercury is the "flask," which weighs 76 lb.Mercury is a very dangerous bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed through skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues. Minamata disease is a form of mercury poisoning. Mercury attacks the central nervous system and adversely affects the mouth, gums, and teeth. High exposure over long periods of time will result in brain damage and ultimately death. Air saturated with mercury vapor at room temperature is at a concentration many times the toxic level, despite the high boiling point (the danger is increased at higher temperatures). Mercury should therefore be handled with great care. Containers of mercury need to be covered securely to avoid spillage and evaporation. Heating of mercury or mercury compounds should always be done under a well-ventilated hood; some oxides in particular can decompose into elemental mercury, which immediately evaporates and may not be obvious.
External Links
- WebElements.com - Mercury
- EnvironmentalChemistry.com - Mercury
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mercury (element)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Operation Quicksilver can refer to at least 3 military operations:
In World War II, Operation Quicksilver (Allies, 1944) was a sub-plan of Operation Fortitude, the 1944 deception plan. Quicksilver created a fictional "First United States Army Group" commanded by General Patton that supposedly would invade France at the Pas-de-Calais. American troops used false signals and decoy installations and phony equipment to deceive German observation aircraft and radio intercept operators. See Operation Bodyguard.
Operation Quicksilver (United States, 1978 - 1979) was a nuclear test series of eighteen blasts conducted at the Nevada Test Site in 1978 and 1979. This preceded Tinderbox, and followed Crescent. The individual tests were:
Name Date Size Emmenthal 2 November 1978 <20 kilotons Quargel 18 November 20-150 kilotons (Unknown) 1 December (Unknown) Farm 16 December 20-150 kilotons Baccarat 24 January 1979 <20 kilotons Quinella 8 February 20-150 kilotons Kloster 15 February 20-150 kilotons Memory 14 March <20 kilotons (Unknown) 11 May (Unknown) Pepato 11 June 20-150 kilotons Chess 20 June <20 kilotons Fajy 28 June 20-150 kilotons Burzet 3 August 20-150 kilotons Offshore 8 August 20-150 kilotons Nessel 29 August 20-150 kilotons Hearts 6 September 20-150 kilotons Pera 8 September <20 kilotons Sheepshead 26 September 20-150 kilotons
3. Operation Quicksilver (United States, 1990s) was a plan to reduce the size of the United States Army in the early 1990s as a result of the end of the Cold War. A number of incentives such as early retirement were used to reduce the number of soldiers on active duty by a third.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Operation Quicksilver."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
- Quicksilver is an archaic name for the chemical element mercury. Literally "living silver," from mercury's silver appearance and its unusual (for a metal) liquidity at room temperature.
- Quicksilver is a novel by Neal Stephenson.
- Quicksilver is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, his superhuman ability being super-speed and reflexes. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #4 (1962).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Quicksilver."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) is a mutant comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, his superhuman ability being super-speed and reflexes. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #4 (1962).Quicksilver is the brother of The Scarlet Witch and the son of Magneto, although this latter fact was not known for many years. The siblings were initially super-villain members of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but they soon reformed and joined The Avengers. Quicksilver was later a member of the team X Factor for a short time when he was at odds with the Avengers. He was married to Crystal of the Inhumans and their pair had a daughter, Luna.
Quicksilver possesses the superhuman ability to run, think and react at great speed. He is even able to fly for short distances. In this regard, he is a counterpart to DC Comics' The Flash.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Quicksilver (comics)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson is the first of his "Baroque Trilogy". The second and third books, forthcoming, are entitled The Confusion and The System of the World.Quicksilver is set in the late 17th and early 18th century, mostly in England, France, and the United Provinces, with sections further east and in Massachusetts. It deals with the science and politics of that era, revolving around characters such as Isaac Newton. Ancestors of the characters of Stephenson's Cryptonomicon feature strongly. The novel covers such historical events as the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, the Edict of Fontainebleau, the Monmouth Rebellion, the Bloody Assizes and the Glorious Revolution, though many details, such as the identity of members of the CABAL, have been changed.
Editions
- ISBN 0380977427 : First hardcover edition, released September 23, 2003.
External Links
Metaweb has an extensive Quicksilver Wiki, including many pages written by Mr. Stephenson, about the historical and fictional persons and events of this book.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Quicksilver (novel)."
Synonyms: QuicksilverSynonyms: erratic (adj), fickle (adj), mercurial (adj), quicksilver(a) (adj), atomic number 80 (n), hydrargyrum (n), mercury (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Changeableness | Moon, Proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, harlequin, Cynthia of the minute, April showers; wheel of Fortune; transientness. |
Physical Energy | Activity, agitation, effervescence; ferment, fermentation; ebullition, splutter, perturbation, stir, bustle; voluntary energy; quicksilver. |
Velocity | Lightning, greased lightning, light, electricity, wind; cannon ball, rocket, arrow, dart, hydrargyrum, quicksilver; telegraph, express train; torrent. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Quicksilver |
| English words defined with "quicksilver": Bustamente furnace ♦ erratic ♦ fickle, Fire gilding, Floured ♦ Looking-glass ♦ mercurial ♦ Porporino ♦ Quick water, Quicksilvered ♦ The bodies seven. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "quicksilver": Freezing-point ♦ Metals ♦ Planets ♦ Seven Bodies in Alchemy ♦ Ure's process ♦ WordTech. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Alright. Let's review our options: Quicksilver madness - dead (The Invisible Man; writing credit: Craig Silverstein; Jonathan Glassner) The gland secretes the quicksilver that makes you invisible, but it also spikes your epinev (The Invisible Man; writing credit: Craig Silverstein; Jonathan Glassner) I thought it was only a story until it happened to me. You see, there's this stuff called quicksilver that bends light (The Invisible Man; writing credit: Craig Silverstein; Jonathan Glassner) Like a junkie shooting pure quicksilver into his veins, Frankie got turned on by the wildest narcotic known to man: success (The Oscar; writing credit: Harlan Ellison; Clarence Greene) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Quicksilver Highway (1997) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | New Idria, California. A birds-eye view of New Idria showing vicinity of the mine workings and, in the valley, the mercury extraction plant of the New Idria Quicksilver Mining Company. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Quicksilver" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 92.86% of the time. "Quicksilver" is used about 42 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 92.86% | 39 | 55,036 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 2.38% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.38% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.38% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 42 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Quicksilver Resources Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "quicksilver": horn quicksilver ♦ quicksilver horizon ♦ quicksilver water. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "quicksilver"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | zhivë (Mercury). (various references) | |
Arabic | زئبقي (mercurial), زئبق (mercury). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | живак, променчивост на настроението, покривам с живачна амалгама. (various references) | |
Chinese | 水銀 (mercury), 水" (mercury). (various references) | |
Danish | kviksølv (mercury). (various references) | |
Dutch | kwikzilver (mercury), kwik (mercury). (various references) | |
Esperanto | hidrargo. (various references) | |
Faeroese | kyksilvur (mercury). (various references) | |
Farsi | جیوه (Mercury). (various references) | |
Finnish | elohopea (mercury). (various references) | |
French | mercure. (various references) | |
German | Quecksilber (fidget, mercuric, mercury). (various references) | |
Greek | υδράργυροσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | כספית. (various references) | |
Hungarian | higany (mercurial, mercury). (various references) | |
Irish | mearcair (mercury), airgead beo (mercury). (various references) | |
Italian | mercurio (Mercury), argento vivo (mercury). (various references) | |
Manx | cur argid bio er, argid bio. (various references) | |
Papiamen | kuek (mercury). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | icksilverquay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mercúrio (Mercury). (various references) | |
Romanian | mercur (Mercury), argint viu (Mercury, quick). (various references) | |
Russian | ртуть (hydrargyrum). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | živa (hydrargyrum, mercury). (various references) | |
Spanish | mercurio (Mercury). (various references) | |
Swedish | kvicksilver (Mercury). (various references) | |
Turkish | civa (quick). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | яскравий (bright, brilliant, catchy, cheesy, colorful, colourful, flamboyant, flaming, florid, garish, gorgeous, high-colored, high-coloured, illustrious, lightsome, noisy, obvious, oriental, pictorial, picturesque, powerful, sober, starry, vivid), ртуть, наводити ртутну амальгаму, блискучий (brilliant, coruscating, crackajack, crackerjack, crackling, glossy, incandescent, lambent, luminous, lustrous, nitid, oriental, polished, radiant, resplendent, sensational, shining, showy, signal, sparkling, splendent, splendid). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tính hoạt bát nhanh nhẹn. (various references) | |
Welsh | arian byw (mercury). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "quicksilver": quicksilvers. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "quicksilver" (pronounced kwi"ksi"lver) |
| 5 | -s i" l v er | silver. |
| 3 | -l v er | Culver, dissolver, revolver, solver. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-i-i-k-l-q-r-s-u-v" | |
-3 letters: cliquier, quickies, sicklier. | |
-4 letters: cirques, cliques, clivers, culvers, cursive, lickers, liviers, luckier, luckies, quicker, quickie, quivers, ruckles, sculker, silique, silkier, slicker, suckler, sulkier, surveil. | |
-5 letters: cirque, civies, clerks, clevis, clique, cruise, culver, curies, curves, ervils, ickers, ickier, kevils, licker, likers, livers, livier, livres, luckie, lucres, quicks, quires, quirks, quiver, relics, risque, ruckle, scrive. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-i-i-k-l-q-r-s-u-v" | |
+1 letter: quicksilvers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Usage Frequency 8. Names: Company Usage | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
