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Mercury is one of the handful of chemical elements known in antiquity and is the only liquid metal. Its unique nature made it special for the alchemists, who believed that it held the key to the transmutation of base metals into gold.

Through the ages, mercury has had many uses - from ornamental garden pools in Moorish Spain to dental fillings, medicines and cosmetics, as well as barometers and thermometers. Today, its use is banned for many applications because it is highly poisonous.

How heavy is a jar of mercury? Why is it so important to chemists? In this video, Dr Andrea Sella demonstrates.

Read the transcript of this video (PDF, 51KB).