Synopsis

Mercury is fourteen times heavier than water, and so dense even a steel bolt will float in it.

Further Information

More clips from 01: Discovering the Elements

1: Discovering the Elements | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 58'53''

The story of how the elements were discovered and mapped begins with the alchemists who questioned that the world...

Hydrogen | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 4'15''

Cavendish accidentally discovered hydrogen, the first elemental gas, when experimenting with air.

Lavoisier's Elements | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 2'47''

Lavoisier was the first scientist to define what an element was.

Oxygen | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 3'25''

The story of how Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen.

Properties of Potassium | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 1'02''

Spec references J248: C4.1a J250: C4.1a. Professor Jim Al-Khalili describes properties of potassium and some of its u...

The discovery of phosphorus | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 5'59''

Phosphorus was discovered when Brandt was attempting to isolate gold from his urine.

More from Jim Al-Khalili

1: Discovering the Elements | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 58'53''

The story of how the elements were discovered and mapped begins with the alchemists who questioned that the world...

Einstein and the beetle | Gravity and Me: The Force that Shapes our Lives

BBC Four | 2017 | 1'20''

Professor Jim Al-Khalili explains Einstein's analogy of gravity that he told his son to explain his...

Prof Jim Al Khalili goes inside Calder Hall for his first look inside the core of a nuclear reactor | Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield

BBC Four | 2015 | 3'20''

Nuclear physicist Professo...

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on teenage brains | The Life Scientific

BBC Radio 4 | 2015 | 26'54''

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her research on the developing teenage brain.

The race to prove Maxwell's theory | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 5'11''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how physics professor Oliver Lodge proved Maxwell's theory that electrom...

Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe? | Horizon

BBC Two | 2011 | 57'29''

Six months after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to discover whether nu...

Al-Khwarizmi's digit and numerical system | Science and Islam

BBC Four | 2009 | 3'40''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how our numerical system spread to Europe through the work of the Arabic mathematician ...

The big bang and the creation of hydrogen and helium | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 3'01''

George Gamow believed that helium existed in the universe before the sun and the stars were formed.

Electrolysis - Discovery of Potassium | Curriculum Bites

CBBC | 2003 | 3'06''

Spec references J248: C3.4b J250: C3.4b. Professor Jim Al-Khalili recreates the electrolysis experiment that lead to...

Mercury | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Synopsis

More clips from 01: Discovering the Elements

More resources about The Periodic Table trends and history

More from Jim Al-Khalili

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