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Mercury (Planet): Degrees
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Temperatures on Mercury's surface can reach 430 degrees Celsius (800 degrees Fahrenheit). Because the planet has no atmosphere to retain that heat, nighttime temperatures on the surface can drop to -170 degrees Celsius (-280 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Mercury is used in thermometers because its coefficient of expansion is nearly constant—that is, the change in volume for each degree of rise or fall in temperature is the same. It is ... used in other types of scientific apparatuses, such as vacuum pumps, barometers, and electric rectifiers and switches. Mercury-vapor lamps are used as a source of ultraviolet light and for sterilizing water. Because of the extremely toxic effects of mercury, the use of the metal and its compounds has been reduced in several industries, including pharmaceuticals, dentistry, and agriculture. The use of mercury in fluorescent lamps and mercury batteries has also been significantly reduced as alternatives have been developed. Perhaps most significant is the substitution of diaphragm cells for traditional mercury cells in chlorine-alkali production, which once accounted for a large percentage of total mercury consumption.
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Mercury attains inferior conjunction every 116 days on average, but this interval can range from 111 days to 121 days due to the planet's eccentric orbit. Its period of retrograde motion as seen from Earth can vary from 8 to 15 days on either side of inferior conjunction. This large range ... arises from the planet's high degree of orbital eccentricity.
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During Mercury's distant past, its period of rotation may have been faster. Scientists speculate that its rotation could have been as rapid as 8 hours, but over millions of years it was slowly despun by solar tides. A model of this process shows that such a despinning would take 109 years and would have raised the interior temperature by 100 degrees Kelvin.
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