98.6k views
1 vote
Which of the following is the symbol for mercury?

1) Mr
2) Hg
3) Mc
4) Hr
5) M

User LONGI
by
8.4k points

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

The chemical symbol for mercury is Hg, which is used across scientific contexts to represent one atom or large amounts of the element. Its atomic number is 80, and its most abundant isotopes have more than 80 neutrons.

Step-by-step explanation:

The symbol for the element mercury is Hg. In chemistry, a chemical symbol is an abbreviation used to represent an element or an individual atom of an element. The symbol "Hg" comes from the Latin word "hydrargyrum", meaning liquid silver, and it is used to denote one atom of mercury (microscopic domain) as well as to label a container holding many atoms of mercury (macroscopic domain).

In the periodic table, mercury has an atomic number of 80, which means it has 80 protons. Given its mass number of 200.59, the most abundant isotopes of mercury will likely have more than 80 neutrons each because the mass number is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.

User Alexei Volkov
by
8.6k points