Amalgam (chemistry)
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An amalgam is a substance formed by the reaction of mercury with another metal. Almost all metals can form amalgams with mercury, notable exceptions being iron and platinum. Silver-mercury amalgams are important in dentistry, and gold-mercury amalgam is used in the extraction of gold from ore.
The origin of the word amalgam is from the Medieval Latin amalgama, "alloy of mercury (esp. with gold or silver)," perhaps an alteration of L. malagma "poultice, plaster," probably from Arabic al-malgham "an emollient poultice or unguent for sores (especially warm)", perhaps from Greek malagma "softening substance," from malassein "to soften" from malakos "soft".
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