Mercury use (WAS RE: hospital surplus)

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Thursday 23 March 2006 04:21 pm, Jim Beacon wrote:
> From: "Scott Quinn" <compoobah at valleyimplants.com>
>
> >  Not much use I can think of in computing, but in other things quite
> > useful. Most obvious is gold prospecting, also used in other metalwork
> > (tempering bath), and in a hobby that will not be named to remove lead
> > that is stuck to steel.
> >
> > Also vacuum pumps for home particle accelerators.
>
> If you go back far enough, mercury was used in memories (mercury delay line
> in some early British machines).

I remember seeing those in a book somewhere...

> It is also often used in high speed relays, especially for teleprinter type
> circuits - we had some mainframe / telegraph interfaces with mercury wetted
> relays in them, in operation,  until about 8 years ago

I have a mercury-wetted relay I salvaged out of something or other.  Says so 
right on it.  :-)   It also indicates that it should be used in one specific 
physical orientation,  too.

So the advantage of those is speed?

-- 
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space,  a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed.  --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James 
M Dakin