Talk:Mercury(I) chloride
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Not generally used in medicine any more; toxic risks are too great. -- Karada 23:19, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)
7 November 2005: corrected molar mass.
[edit] Colour
- The name calomel is thought to come from the Greek καλος beautiful, and μελας black. This somewhat surprising name (for a white compound) probably refers to its characteristic disproportionation reaction with ammonia, which gives a black coloration due to the metallic mercury formed.
I think that in its native state (rather than ground to a fine powder and cleansed of impurities for the laboratory) Calomel appears brown through dark brown to black. See for example http://www.geodil.com/image.asp?ImageID=219&history=0&categoryid=31 . This, rather than the reaction with ammonia, probably explains the greek name.
Daviddariusbijan 16:13, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
All widely accepted chemistry textbooks and OED all cite the etimology based on the black color it will cause on contact with organic materials. The reaction itself is really spectacular while the native brownish material is anything but beautiful black.
Stapke 02:36, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
