Name the ore of Mercury (non metal). Write down the steps of extraction of the metal from its ore with equation for the reactions wherever needed
Solution:
The ore of mercury is Cinnabar (HgS), it is brick red colored Mercuric sulfide also called as vermillion. Mercury is obtained from its ore cinnabar by heating the cinnabar ore in a current of air and condensing the mercury vapor formed. Due to its relatively low boiling point mercury can be easily purified by vacuum distillation. The reaction of mercury sulfide with oxygen is shown below:
HgS + O2 → Hg + SO2
Other processes for the removal of mercury from cinnabar can be as follows:
HgS + Fe → Hg + FeS
4HgS + 4CaO → 4Hg + 3CaS + CaSO4
The ore of mercury is Cinnabar (HgS), it is brick red colored Mercuric sulfide also called as vermillion. Mercury is obtained from its ore cinnabar by heating the cinnabar ore in a current of air and condensing the mercury vapor formed. Due to its relatively low boiling point mercury can be easily purified by vacuum distillation. The reaction of mercury sulfide with oxygen is shown below:
HgS + O2 → Hg + SO2
Other processes for the removal of mercury from cinnabar can be as follows:
HgS + Fe → Hg + FeS
4HgS + 4CaO → 4Hg + 3CaS + CaSO4