Mercury is stronger than water
Water has high surface tension due to extremely high molecular binding force of water caused by the hydrogen bond between water molecules. But water is not the last winner. Mercury, which is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (from Greek "hydr-" water and "argyros" silver), has stronger surface tension than water. Being a heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metal that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure conditions. Why does mercury have stronger surface tension than water?
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1 solution
Actually, none of the answers provided are correct. The nature of the bonding in mercury is metallic bonding, which consists mostly of the attraction between the metallic nuclei and the delocalised electrons. This is a pretty strong form of bonding, much stronger than the hydrogen bonding present between water molecules. It is not correct to label this as ionic bonding.