Editing Red mercury (section)

== Analysis ==
Several common mercury compounds are indeed red, such as [[mercury sulfide]] (from which the bright-red pigment [[vermilion]] was originally derived), [[mercury(II) oxide]] (historically called [[wikt:red_precipitate|red precipitate]]), and [[mercury(II) iodide]], and others are explosive, such as [[mercury(II) fulminate]]. No use for any of these compounds in nuclear weapons has been publicly documented. "Red mercury" could also be a [[code name]] for a substance that contains no mercury at all.

A variety of different items have been chemically analyzed as putative samples of "red mercury" since the substance first came to the attention of the media, but no single substance was found in these items. A sample of radioactive material was seized by German police in May 1994. This consisted of a complex mixture of elements, including about 10% by weight [[plutonium]], with the remainder consisting of 61% [[mercury (element)|mercury]], 11% [[antimony]], 6% [[oxygen]], 2% [[iodine]] and 1.6% [[gallium]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jallcom.2006.10.161 |issn=0925-8388 |volume=444–445 |pages=57–62 |last1=Wallenius |first1=Maria |first2=Klaus |last2=Lützenkirchen |first3=Klaus |last3=Mayer |first4=Ian |last4=Ray |first5=Laura |last5=Aldave de las Heras |first6=Maria |last6=Betti |first7=Omer |last7=Cromboom |first8=Marc |last8=Hild |first9=Brian |last9=Lynch |first10=Adrian |last10=Nicholl |first11=Herbert |last11=Ottmar |first12=Gert |last12=Rasmussen |first13=Arndt |last13=Schubert |first14=Gabriele |last14=Tamborini |first15=Hartmut |last15=Thiele |first16=Werner |last16=Wagner |first17=Clive |last17=Walker |first18=Evelyn |last18=Zuleger |title=Nuclear forensic investigations with a focus on plutonium |journal=Journal of Alloys and Compounds |date=11 October 2007}}</ref> The reason why somebody had assembled this complex mixture of chemicals is unknown; equally puzzling was the presence of fragments of glass and brush bristles, suggesting that someone had dropped a bottle of this substance and then swept it up into a new container.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14719914.300-fissile-fingerprints.html?page=1 |title=Fissile Fingerprints |work=[[New Scientist]] |publisher=[[Reed Business Information]] |date=19 August 1995 |first=Rob |last=Edwards}}</ref>

In contrast, an analysis reported in 1998 of a different "red mercury" sample concluded that this sample was a non-radioactive mixture of elemental mercury, water and mercury(II) iodide, which is a red colored chemical.<ref name=Grant/> Similarly, another analysis of a sample recovered in Zagreb in November 2003 reported that this item contained only mercury.<ref name=Sudac>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.nimb.2007.04.015 |volume=261 |issue=1–2 |pages=922–924 |last1=Obhoðas |first1=Jasmina |first2=Davorin |last2=Sudac |first3=Sasa |last3=Blagus |first4=Vladivoj |last4=Valkovic |title=Analysis of an object assumed to contain "Red Mercury" |journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B |year=2007 |bibcode=2007NIMPB.261..922O}}</ref> One formula that had been claimed previously for red mercury was Hg<sub>2</sub>Sb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub> ([[mercury(II) pyroantimonate]]), but no antimony was detected in this 2003 sample.<ref name=Sudac/><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1088/1742-6596/41/1/007 |issn=1742-6588 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=81–100 |last =Valkovi |first=Vlado |title=Applications of nuclear techniques relevant for civil security |journal=Journal of Physics: Conference Series |year=2006 |bibcode=2006JPhCS..41...81V |doi-access=free}}</ref>