Question

What is the ore of mercury?

Answer 1

1. Minerals are those substances that are found in the earth's crust naturally.
2. Metals are extracted from their respective minerals.
3. A lot of minerals are present and only some of them are viable to use as a source of extracting metals. Such minerals are called ores.
4. Cinnabar is the ore of Mercury and it is found in the form of small crystals.
5. It is generally found in bright red color.
6. Extraction of Mercury from Cinnabar occurs as follows.
   $\underset{\left(\mathrm{Cinnabar}\right)}{\mathrm{HgS}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\left(\mathrm{Oxygen}\right)}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\left(\mathrm{Mercury}\right)}{\mathrm{Hg}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\left(\mathrm{Sulphur}\mathrm{dioxide}\right)}{{\mathrm{SO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$
7. The collected mercury is purified through vacuum distillation.
8. This happens because the boiling point is low and the mercury vapors get condensed.