Question

What is the product formed when ozone reacts with mercury?
A. $HgO$
B. $H{{g}_{2}}{{O}_{2}}$
C. $H{{g}_{2}}O$
D. All of the above.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that Ozone oxidizes mercury to mercurous oxide. Mercury meniscus is lost and mercurous oxide sticks to glass. This is called tailing of mercury. To restore mercury meniscus, it is shaken with water.

Complete answer:
As we know that the ozone is passed through mercury, it loses its meniscus and sticks to the glass due to the formation of mercurous oxide. This is called tailing of mercury. It is known to you that tailing of mercury is when the mercury (Hg) sticks to the sides of a test tube. When ozone is passed through mercury, it loses its meniscus and sticks to the glass due to the formation of mercurous oxide. This phenomenon is called tailing of mercury. So, mercury when it starts moving on a surface leaves a tail and this is what tailing mercury is called.
This happens because ozone is an oxidizing agent, so when ozone is passed through mercury, ozone oxidizes mercury to mercurous oxide and changes the oxidation state of mercury from zero to one. Ozone is an oxidizing agent. It oxidizes another compound. Gain of oxygen or removal of hydrogen is known as oxidation. Ozone oxidizes other compounds by giving an oxygen atom. Ozone itself gets reduced to a dioxygen molecule by giving an oxygen atom. The chemical reaction is given by: ${{O}_{3}}+2Hg\to H{{g}_{2}}O+{{O}_{2}};$ Hg is oxidized by ${{O}_{3}}$​ and $H{{g}_{2}}O$ is formed.

So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note:
Remember that when mercury bonds with oxygen, it creates mercurous oxide and this causes it to lose its meniscus. Also, you should remember that one of the reasons for this effect is that mercury atoms have weak interatomic cohesive forces.