Elemental mercury is a slippery substance.
In the earth's crust, it anchors itself by bonding with other elements, creating materials like the rough coppery rock cinnabar, a crystalline combination of mercury and sulfur. Once cinnabar, or other metallic ores, are mined and crushed, mercury can be easily extracted. Then the warmer above-ground temperatures, the decrease in pressure, cause pure mercury to become a very odd liquid metal.
Unlike a drop of water, a drop of mercury touched by a finger does not wet the skin. Instead, it breaks into smaller drops, tiny glittering balls that…
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