Help!! Does anyone out there know what mercury is reactive with? I've looked everywhere and am still looking, you see I did really well with a science project but I neglected to mention what mercury is reactive with. I need a website, a URL, a place to get information from. HELP!!!!!!!

Well, mercury reacts with many things: It reacts with hot nitric acid to form mercuric nitrate, Hg(No3)2. An excess of mercury reacts with nitric acid to form mercurous nitrate, HgNO3. Mercury reacts with hot concentrated sulfuric acid to form mercuric sulfate, HgSO4; with excess mercury, mercurous sulfate, Hg2SO4, is formed. Mercury reacts directly with the halogens to form mercuric salts. At elevated temperatures mercury reacts slowly with oxygen to form mercuric oxide, HgO. A mercurous oxide may be formed chemically but is unstable, decomposing to a mixture of mercury and mercuric oxide. Mercury reacts with aluminum metal (which is why it is illegal to transport liquid mercury by aircraft)

Most of the above from here (http://www.encyclopedia.com/printablenew/08344.html). Are you looking for something else?

Peace.

Goofyfish, you are a LIFESAVER!! Thank you very, very much!!!!

Ah yes, brings back memories of the good old days when a buddy and I
decided to mix up a batch of fulminate of mercury, Hg(ONC)2 I think, and
blew up his neighbor's cat who pulled the bottle out of the hole in his
parents stone fence that we'd stashed it in.

Can't remember the iodide, or iodate, that we mixed up that was even
more sensitive to shock (almost like warm nitro).

Thanks for the trigger. :D

Take care ;)

How was the cat? I'd figure if he survived the explosion that he'd die from nerv-ish poisoning. What happened?

Didn't survive.

Fortunately, the buddy's folks were out for the evening.

Buddy found what was left of the cat and got rid of it before
his folks came home. Even had enough sense to wash off
the section of fence that was blood and guts splattered.

Just glad that it was a small bottle, a 1oz. one if I remember
correctly, that was about a third full.

Take care :(