Which metal is liquid at room temperature?

Which metal is liquid at room temperature? Mercury. Mercury is the canonical answer because it remains liquid under ordinary indoor conditions and is the only metallic element known to be liquid at standard temperature and pressure.

Its symbol is Hg, from the Latinized Greek term hydrargyrum, meaning “water-silver.” Mercury has a melting point of about −38.83 °C, so a typical room is far above the temperature at which it solidifies. Its silvery appearance and freely moving droplets led to the older name quicksilver.

A common mix-up is gallium, which melts at about 29.76 °C, or caesium, which melts at about 28.5 °C. Both can become liquid in a warm room, but neither is normally liquid at standard room temperature. Bromine is also liquid at room temperature, but it is a halogen and therefore not a metal.

Mercury was once widely used in thermometers, barometers, switches and fluorescent lamps. Its toxicity has led to major reductions in many consumer and industrial uses.