Does mercury, the element, have a solid state?

Mercury is a liquid at room temperature, element #80. It can be all three states if you cool it down or heat it up enough. It is highly toxic; Do not touch it unless you know what you are doing. read more

Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices, though concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments. read more

Mercury has an unusual completely filled valence shell configuration. The first ionization enthalphy is considerably high and form weak bonds, hence melt at ambient room temperature, existing as a liquid. read more

Cinnabar (aka vermilion, mercury sulfide, HgS), was used as a bright red pigment by the Palaeolithic painters of 30,000 years ago to decorate caves in Spain and France. Cinnabar would yield up its mercury simply on heating in a crucible, and the metal fascinated people because it was a liquid that would dissolve gold. read more

A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature. read more

(Despite the fact that mercury is now known to be highly toxic, some traditional Chinese medicines still appear to contain high levels of mercury. (7),(8)) In 1759 Adam Braun and Mikhail Lomonosov working in St. Petersburg, Russia obtained solid mercury by freezing a mercury thermometer in a mixture of snow and concentrated nitric acid. read more