Mercury silvering methods. The technique was also used in Asia, for example "tokin" plating in Edo-period Japan. Mercury silvering Mercury silvering or fire gilding is a silvering technique for applying a thin layer of precious metal such as silver or gold (mercury gilding) to a base metal object. The process was invented during the Middle Ages and is documented in Vannoccio Biringuccio's 1540 book "De la pirotechnia". An amalgam of mercury and the precious metal is prepared and applied to the object which is then heated, sometimes in oil, vaporizing most of the mercury. The technique is dangerous since mercury is highly
Mercury(II) hydroxide Mercury(II) hydroxide Mercury(II) hydroxide or mercury dihydroxide is an inorganic metal hydroxide with the chemical formula HgHO or more commonly written as Hg(OH). It is not possible to make the chemical by adding OH to Hg in aqueous solution, since this merely precipitates yellow solid HgO, although it is possible that Hg(OH) is momentarily produced during the reaction. The first experimental evidence for the existence of the molecule was reported by Wang and Andrews in 2004. They produced it by irradiating a frozen mixture of mercury, oxygen and hydrogen with light from a mercury arc lamp. The mixture had been