Question

Assertion (A): Mercury is a less reactive metal which is quite low in the activity series. Mercury metal can be extracted just by heating its sulphide ore in air.

Reason (R): The reduction of metal oxide to form metal by using aluminium powder as a reducing agent is called a thermite reaction (or thermite process).

Options

• Both A and R are true and R is correct explanation of the assertion.

• Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of the assertion.

• A is true but R is false.

• A is false but R is true.

Answer 1

Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of the assertion.

Explanation:

Assertion (A) is completely correct since low-reactivity mercury can be isolated by simply roasting its cinnabar ore (HgS) in air, and reason (R) is also a scientifically true statement describing a thermite process, but it holds absolutely no factual connection or explanatory value regarding the extraction mechanism of mercury.