1
Chemistry / Why is a mole of Hg bigger than a mole of S?
« on: 18/05/2010 11:30:02 »
Martin asked the Naked Scientists:
Hi. Â I found your website after a google search.
Can you think of any reason why a mole of mercury (Hg) would occupy significantly less volume than a mole of sulphur (S)? Â
Sulphur has a much smaller atomic radius - and mercury is even a liquid at room temp, which one would think would be an added benefit - but no - seems like a mole of solid sulphur occupies about 5x as much volume. Â
What's going on here?
Thanks and hope to hear back,
M
What do you think?
Hi. Â I found your website after a google search.
Can you think of any reason why a mole of mercury (Hg) would occupy significantly less volume than a mole of sulphur (S)? Â
Sulphur has a much smaller atomic radius - and mercury is even a liquid at room temp, which one would think would be an added benefit - but no - seems like a mole of solid sulphur occupies about 5x as much volume. Â
What's going on here?
Thanks and hope to hear back,
M
What do you think?