The key difference between bromine and mercury is that bromine is the only halogen that is in a liquid state at room temperature, whereas mercury is the only metal that is in a liquid state at room temperature.
Both bromine and mercury can be found in their liquid state at standard temperature and pressure conditions. However, bromine is a nonmetal while mercury is a metal.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Bromine
3. What is Mercury
4. Side by Side Comparison – Bromine vs Mercury in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Bromine?
Bromine is the chemical element having the symbol Br and atomic number 35. This chemical element belongs to the group of halogens (group 7) in the periodic table of elements. We can find it in its liquid state at room temperature and pressure; it is the only halogen that occurs in a liquid state at this condition because fluorine and chlorine occur as gases while iodine occurs in the solid state (fluorine, chlorine and iodine are the other important members of the halogen group). Bromine can be observed as a fuming red-brown liquid which readily evaporates to form a similarly coloured gas. Moreover, we can say that the properties of bromine are intermediate to that of chlorine and iodine chemical elements.
Figure 01: Bromine
Bromine, in its elemental form, is very reactive; therefore, we cannot observe this element as a free element in nature. However, we can find it as a colourless soluble crystalline mineral halide salt form which is analogous to table salt. In a commercial scale, we can easily extract bromine from brine pools.
Similar to all the other halogens elements, bromine has a valency of 1; thus, it can act as a strong oxidizing agent that can react with many elements in order to complete its outer shell. When compared to its neighbour halogens, bromine is less reactive than chlorine but more reactive than iodine. Bromine usually occurs as Br2 molecules, where there are Van der Waals forces between bromine molecules.
What is Mercury?
Mercury is the chemical element having the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is a metallic element and the only metallic element that occurs in its liquid state at room temperature and pressure conditions. It appears as a shiny, silvery liquid. We can find mercury in mineral deposits in the form of mercuric sulfide. This metal is an extremely rare element on Earth’s crust.
Figure 02: Mercury
Mercury can be observed as a heavy liquid metal that has a poor conductivity of electricity compared to other metals. However, solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife. This chemical element does not react with most acids such as dilute sulfuric acid, but some oxidizing acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid, aqua regia can dissolve this metal to give sulfate, nitrate and chloride forms of mercury. Moreover, mercury can dissolve many metals such as gold and silver, forming amalgams.
What is the Difference Between Bromine and Mercury?
Bromine is a nonmetal while mercury is a metal. The key difference between bromine and mercury is that bromine is the only halogen that is in the liquid state at room temperature, whereas mercury is the only metal that is in the liquid state at room temperature. Moreover, bromine occurs as Br2 in mineral deposits while mercury occurs as a native metal, or as mineral forms.
The following table lists more differences between bromine and mercury.
Summary – Bromine vs Mercury
Both bromine and mercury can be found in the liquid state at room temperature and pressure conditions. Bromine is a nonmetal while mercury is a metal. The key difference between bromine and mercury is that bromine is the only halogen that is in the liquid state at room temperature, whereas mercury is the only metal that is in the liquid state at room temperature.
Reference:
1. Mark Winter, U. (n.d.). Mercury: Uses. Retrieved October 19, 2020, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Bromine 25ml (transparent)” By W. Oelen – (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Pouring liquid mercury bionerd” By Bionerd – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia