Group 12 element
Group 12, by modern IUPAC numbering, is a group of chemical elements in the periodic table. It includes zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and copernicium (Cn). Formerly this group was named IIB (pronounced as "group two B", as the "II" is a Roman numeral) by CAS and old IUPAC system.
| Group 12 in the periodic table | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ↓ Period | |||||||||
| 4 | Zinc (Zn) 30 Transition metal | ||||||||
| 5 | Cadmium (Cd) 48 Transition metal | ||||||||
| 6 | Mercury (Hg) 80 Transition metal | ||||||||
| 7 | Copernicium (Cn) 112 transition metal | ||||||||
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Legend
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The three group 12 elements that occur naturally are zinc, cadmium and mercury. They are all widely used in electric and electronic applications, as well as in various alloys. The first two members of the group share similar properties as they are solid metals under standard conditions. Mercury is the only metal that is known to be a liquid at room temperature – as copernicium's boiling point has not yet been measured accurately enough, it is not yet known whether it is a liquid or a gas under standard conditions. While zinc is very important in the biochemistry of living organisms, cadmium and mercury are both highly toxic. As copernicium does not occur in nature, it has to be synthesized in the laboratory.