Is Mercury a Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?
Mercury (Hg) is a metal — a typical hard metal: lustrous, malleable, an excellent conductor, and famous for colourful compounds and variable valency. It sits in group 12, period 6, and is a liquid at room temperature.
Teachers call it "one fact, fully handled" — exactly what this page does for Mercury. The answer sits at the top in bold; scroll for the working, the shell-by-shell breakdown and the two questions students ask most. Need the whole picture instead — history, characteristics, uses, exam questions? The full Mercury page is one click away.
The one-line answer, with reasons
Mercury is a metal. Chemists decide by behaviour, not appearance: metals (like Mercury) give up electrons, shine when freshly cut, and conduct heat and electricity; nonmetals take or share electrons and (as solids) break rather than bend. Mercury checks every metal box — placed in the transition metal family of the table.
Mercury's metal/nonmetal report card
| Property | Value | Typical of |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Transition metal | — |
| Phase at room temp | liquid | metals are usually solid |
| Block | d-block | — |
| Group | 12 | — |
| Period | 6 | — |
The family it belongs to
The whole transition metal family shares one seating area of the table, and every member's family ID card is one click away — compare Mercury with its upstairs or downstairs neighbour and the family pattern jumps out.
Students also ask
Is Mercury a good conductor of electricity?
Yes — like other metals, Mercury conducts electricity and heat well, thanks to its sea of free electrons.
Can a liquid be a metal — like Mercury?
Yes — being a metal or nonmetal is about bonding and electron behaviour, not state. Mercury is the only metal (with bromine the only nonmetal) that is liquid at room temperature.