Home > Community > How does the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide affect humans?
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+ Chemical reactions
+ Chemistry
+ Oxides
+ Decomposition
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Kai Rabenstein

How does the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide affect humans?

Chen Tang  Follow

decomposition - reaction that results in the formation of elements from a reactant.

combustion - a reaction with oxygen in which new compounds containing oxygen are formed

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Colin Watters  Follow

What's the difference between mercury oxide and mercuric oxide?

The term “mercury oxide” is ambiguous since there are two forms of mercury Oxide depending on the two oxidation states of mercury.

Mercury (I) oxide = Hg2O = mercurous oxide in the old naming system.

Mercury (II) Oxide = HgO - mercuric oxide in the old naming system.

These are two very different compounds. If you want to know more, perform a Google search for each one. This is a simple enough task which will provide more results and faster than asking on Quora.

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Chris Cook Bradley  Follow

No all decomposition reactions are not reversible. As for example- decomposition of calcium carbonate in a closed system is a reversible reaction but in an open system, the reaction is irreversible.

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Dawn Leeper  Follow

The gas ethylene oxide (C2H4O) is combustible and has a sweet odour. Ethylene oxide exposure can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, difficulty breathing, drowsiness, weakness, tiredness, eye and skin burns, frostbite, and reproductive consequences, among other things. Ethylene oxide exposure can cause injury to workers.

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Dave Howe  Follow

Mercuric oxide, or better to say mercury(II) oxide's formula is: HgO. It is a crystalline solid with orange color.

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Braxton Anderson III  Follow

this question quite easy if you no lost any part..

so as Hg is 200 and O is 16 so HgO is 216 g per mole ; if you have 108 g of Hgo you have 0.5 mole so this will give 100 g of mercury..

note that if you realy do, you should take care in very well ventilatate place, better under a laboratory hood because those vapors are highly toxic in long term..

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Danu Novmanu  Follow

Thermal decomposition of Mercuric oxide (HgO) can have very serious consequences for humans! When it is heated to decomposition at around 500 degrees C, it gives off oxygen and pure mercury. The mercury vapor is toxic and can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms. See Mercury poisoning: Symptoms and early signs for more details. Basically you start off with mild with mood changes and irritability perhaps with numbness, then muscle weakness, difficulty walking, and lack of motor skills, then progress to difficulty problem solving, understanding language, and becoming unaware of their surroundings. People used to characterize the late stages as insanity and the old phrase “Mad as a Hatter” comes from the mental deterioration due to exposure to mercury vapor. The symptoms usually come on gradually and people may just consider them normal to the individual.

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Colin Banks  Follow

I think it forms methyl oxalate

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Chris Rapier  Follow

The simple answer is that it gets hot.

If you want more detail then think about what you really want to know and provide that information…

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Declan Gibo  Follow

It all depends on the amount of iron taken as we know iron is essential to make haemoglobin but on large amount it causes cancer, liver,heart problems.

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Amal Fatima  Follow

Calm and euphoric is the most common way to describe it.

A minority of people can have an idiosyncratic reaction and feel uncomfortable or freak out a bit or a lot. Not common though.

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