Mercury is used in laboratories for making thermometers, barometers, diffusion pumps, and many other instruments. It is used for mercury switches and other electrical apparatus. It is used as an electrode in some types of electrolysis and for making batteries (mercury cells).
Mercury easily forms alloys, called amalgams, with other metals such as gold, silver and tin. The ease with which it amalgamates with gold made it useful in recovering gold from its ores. Mercury amalgams were also used in dental fillings. Mercury has fascinated people for millennia, as a heavy liquid metal. However, because of its toxicity, many uses of mercury are being phased out or are under review. It is now mainly used in the chemical industry as catalysts. 1 It is also commonly used in tattoo inks. 2  This compound is also commonly used in the manufacture of mascara. 3  Mercury is commonly used in mercury-vapor lamps and is used in some advertising signs as an alternative to the more widely used neon sign. 4  Mercury is also used in many fluorescent lamps. It is a metal, but remains in liquid form at room temperature. Mercury is a very toxic substance and accumulates in the body. It causes damage to the brain, kidney and lungs and even small doses can cause mercury poisoning. Being the only metal which is liquid at room temperature mercury has some specialist uses: It is used in thermometers because it has a large thermal expansion which is constant over a large temperature range although it is being phased out in favour of safer liquids. www.deq.state.or.us/.../ mercury/mercury3.htm. It is also used in barometers an manometers due to its high density. The following uses for mercury are gathered from a number of sources as well as from anecdotal comments. I'd be delighted to receive corrections as well as additional referenced uses (please use the feedback mechanism to add uses). Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapour lamps and advertising signs. Mercury is important in some types of industry, for instance for caustic soda and chlorine production. It is used for making some pesticides and antifouling paint. Mercury is used in laboratories for making thermometers, barometers, diffusion pumps, and many other instruments. It is used for mercury switches and other electrical apparatus. It is used as an electrode in some types of electrolysis and for making batteries (mercury cells). Gaseous mercury is used in mercury-vapour lamps and advertising signs. Mercury is important in some types of industry, for instance for caustic soda and chlorine production. It is used for making some pesticides and antifouling paint. Liquid mercury is a chemical element first discovered by the ancient Chinese around 1500BC. Since then it has been widely used in many instances from scientific apparatus to cosmetics, this article details some of its most common uses.  Due to concerns about the element's toxicity levels, the use of mercury is slowly being phased out. However, being the only metal that possesses the property of maintaining a liquid state at room temperature, it is not surprising that mercury has found a number of special applications throughout past decades.  Uses. Mercury has fascinated people for millennia, as a heavy liquid metal. However, because of its toxicity, many uses of mercury are being phased out or are under review. It is now mainly used in the chemical industry as catalysts. Mercury metal has many uses. Because of its high density, it is used in barometers and manometers. Because it has a high rate of thermal expansion that is fairly constant over a wide temperature range, it is used extensively in thermometers. Mercury is important as a liquid contact material for electric switches. It is used in mercury-vapor lamps, which emit light rich in ultraviolet radiation; various kinds of such lamps are used for street lighting, as sun lamps, and in black lights (see lighting).  Mercury is the 80th element on the periodic table and is represented by the chemical symbol Hg. It is a metal, but remains in liquid form at room temperature. Mercury is a very toxic substance and accumulates in the body. It causes damage to the brain, kidney and lungs and even small doses can cause mercury poisoning. Despite the danger of this element, mercury still has many important uses
http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/80/mercury http://wanttoknowit.com/uses-of-mercury/ http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2004/hooper/uses.htm http://www.webelements.com/mercury/uses.html http://www.webelements.com/mercury/uses.html http://www.liquidmercury.net/common-uses-of-mercury.html http://www.ehow.com/list_6866335_uses-mercury.html http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/80/mercury http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/mercury-chemical-element-natural-occurrence-uses.html http://wanttoknowit.com/uses-of-mercury/
what are uses of mercury