Only two elements are liquid at standard room temperature: bromine and mercury. Bromine is a nonmetal made of loosely attracted molecules, so that makes some sense. Mercury is a metal, and it sits in the periodic table right next to gold, which melts at over a thousand degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mercury is in group 12, below zinc and cadmium. Going down a group, you might expect a steady trend, but mercury breaks it sharply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Atoms in a metal are bonded by sharing their outer electrons across the whole piece of metal. The more readily an atom shares, the stronger the bonding tends to be, and the higher the melting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercury has very little to offer. Its outer electrons are a filled 6s pair, sitting on top of a filled 5d subshell. Both are complete, stable arrangements, so mercury atoms hold on to their electrons and behave a little like the atoms of a noble gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Filled subshells are only part of the explanation, since zinc and cadmium have the same arrangement and are solid. What sets mercury apart is its heavy nucleus. With 80 protons pulling on them, its inner electrons move at a large fraction of the speed of light, and relativistic effects shrink the 6s orbital and bind that pair even more tightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2013, a team led by Peter Schwerdtfeger tested this with computer simulations of melting mercury, run with and without relativity. Switching relativity on lowered the melting point by about 105 \u00b0C. Without it, mercury would be a solid on a normal day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercury’s weak bonding explains more than its melting point. It also has a relatively low boiling point for a metal, at 357 \u00b0C, and it gives off vapour even at room temperature. That vapour is toxic, which is why mercury thermometers have largely been replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It isn’t entirely alone, either. Gallium melts at about 30 \u00b0C, so it will turn liquid in your hand, and caesium melts at about 28 \u00b0C. Mercury is still the only metal that stays liquid on an ordinary day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mercury is the only metal that stays liquid at room temperature, even though the metals around it melt at hundreds of degrees. Here is what makes it different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[53],"class_list":["post-90102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atomic","tag-article"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paQrWz-nrg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90101,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/why-gold-doesnt-tarnish\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":0},"title":"Why gold doesn’t tarnish","author":"Jonatan Lindemann","date":"November 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Silver darkens and iron rusts, but gold looks the same after thousands of years. The reason lies in its electrons, and in Einstein's relativity.","rel":"","context":"In "Atomic"","block_context":{"text":"Atomic","link":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/category\/atomic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11011,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/11-sodium\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":1},"title":"#11 Sodium","author":"Jonatan Lindemann","date":"October 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Element of the Week: Sodium (Na) \u2013 atomic number 11.","rel":"","context":"In "Atomic"","block_context":{"text":"Atomic","link":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/category\/atomic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Na_Sodium-e1793376873302.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Na_Sodium-e1793376873302.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Na_Sodium-e1793376873302.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Na_Sodium-e1793376873302.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Na_Sodium-e1793376873302.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2623,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/8-oxygen\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":2},"title":"#8 Oxygen","author":"admin","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a relentless chemist of the 18th century, discovered Oxygen in 1771\u2014a gas that would prove essential not just for respiration, but for the fiery dance of combustion, corrosion, and the symphony of planetary chemistry. Today, it forms about 20.95% of Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and nearly half of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Atomic"","block_context":{"text":"Atomic","link":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/category\/atomic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Liquid_oxygen_in_a_beaker_4-e1754504338405.jpg?fit=799%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Liquid_oxygen_in_a_beaker_4-e1754504338405.jpg?fit=799%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Liquid_oxygen_in_a_beaker_4-e1754504338405.jpg?fit=799%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Liquid_oxygen_in_a_beaker_4-e1754504338405.jpg?fit=799%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9001,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/getting-started-with-atomic\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":3},"title":"Getting Started with Atomic","author":"Jonatan Lindemann","date":"November 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A four-minute tour of Atomic: the periodic table, element pages, tables and tools, and the Ask Atomic chemistry assistant.","rel":"","context":"In "Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Guides","link":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/category\/guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/feature-1.png?fit=804%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/feature-1.png?fit=804%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/feature-1.png?fit=804%2C603&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/feature-1.png?fit=804%2C603&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90001,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/electron-configuration\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":4},"title":"Electron configuration","author":"Jonatan Lindemann","date":"November 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Shells, subshells, the filling order, Hund's rule and the exceptions \u2014 how to write the electron configuration of any element.","rel":"","context":"In "Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Guides","link":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/category\/guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2640,"url":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/10-neon\/","url_meta":{"origin":90102,"position":5},"title":"#10 Neon","author":"admin","date":"August 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Discovered in 1898 by William Ramsay, Neon (Ne) is the tenth element in the periodic table and a member of the noble gases. It\u2019s a colorless, odorless, and chemically inert gas that glows with a brilliant red-orange hue when electrified\u2014making it a favorite for signage and lighting. Neon was isolated\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neon_discharge_tube-e1754597243463.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neon_discharge_tube-e1754597243463.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neon_discharge_tube-e1754597243463.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neon_discharge_tube-e1754597243463.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neon_discharge_tube-e1754597243463.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90107,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90102\/revisions\/90107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlindemann.se\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Metal<\/th> Melting point<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Zinc<\/td> 420 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr> Cadmium<\/td> 321 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr> Mercury<\/td> \u221239 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr> Gold, its neighbour<\/td> 1064 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr> Thallium, its other neighbour<\/td> 304 \u00b0C<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Metals hold together by sharing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Relativity tips the balance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What that means in practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n