[curiouscat]

the only "huge" legal demands I am aware of is light bulbs industries and gold mining, and both are in need for extremely clean Hg, for obvious reasons.

There's a small use in contacts for relays and such I think. Not sure if that's banned now.

[Fe$phi]

so basically this is too advanced for me and if i could i wouldn't make much profit so i guess i can accept that thanks everyone

[clarkstill]

If you want to separate mercury from silver, one method is to directly heat it. I have heard of someone doing this to extract mercury...

Just make sure you hold your breath...

[Borek]

Mercury is commonly purified by distillation. Or at least it was back in early nineties when I worked with electrochemists using mercury electrodes.

[clarkstill]

Mercury is commonly purified by distillation. Or at least it was back in early nineties when I worked with electrochemists using mercury electrodes.

You'd have to be as mad as a hatter to distil mercury.

[Borek]

If you don't know how, and if you don't have equipment - no doubt about it. But we are talking about a university lab, with a trained technician working in a room that was not used for anything else.

[curiouscat]

If you don't know how, and if you don't have equipment - no doubt about it. But we are talking about a university lab, with a trained technician working in a room that was not used for anything else.

@Borek

Apologies if you know already, otherwise googling the origins of the phrase "mad as a hatter" might be fun..

[Borek]

Apologies if you know already, otherwise googling the origins of the phrase "mad as a hatter" might be fun..

Good one, didn't know Joke was wasted on me

I always thought "mad as a hatter" is after the hatter from Alice in Wonderland, but apparently in the book it already alludes to an earlier saying.

[sjb]

Apologies if you know already, otherwise googling the origins of the phrase "mad as a hatter" might be fun..

Good one, didn't know Joke was wasted on me

I always thought "mad as a hatter" is after the hatter from Alice in Wonderland, but apparently in the book it already alludes to an earlier saying.

It may not even be to do with felting...