Mercury is element number 80, a metal with the symbol Hg. The symbol comes from the Greek for “water” and “silver.” The Japanese name, 水銀 (suigin), is built exactly the same way.
Atomic number 80200.6
HgMercury水銀 (suigin)
Symbol
Hg
Atomic weight
200.6
Place in the table
Period 6 · Group 12
Atomic weight from the Chemical Society of Japan, “Table of Standard Atomic Weights with Four Significant Figures (2026)”.
“Water silver”
The symbol Hg comes from a word combining the Greek hydor (water) and argyros (silver). Mercury has been known since ancient times.
The English name “mercury” comes from Mercurius, the Roman god of commerce (and the planet Mercury).
The Minamata Convention
In October 2013, at a conference held in Kumamoto City and Minamata City, the “Minamata Convention on Mercury” was adopted unanimously. It is an international treaty that aims to protect human health and the environment from mercury released by human activity, and it came into force on 16 August 2017.
Mercury is in the sixth row of Group 12, with cadmium above and zinc above that.
Think about it
Q1Why do you think the Greek and Japanese names ended up built the same way?
Q2Why was an international treaty named after a town in Japan?
Q3The planet Mercury and the element mercury share a name in English. Isn’t that interesting?
There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.
Did you know? — Elements whose symbol and English name have different origins include mercury (Hg / mercury), tungsten (W / tungsten) and antimony (Sb / antimony).