Quote Originally Posted by Ksheep View Post
Yeah, I myself am fairly skeptical about it, but since Telok was talking about using a wall of Mercury, except that it wouldn't then be solid, this came to mind. Besides, this is D&D we're talking about, a world of fantasy and magic. Might as well have some pseudo-science thrown in :P

If you'll look above, nedz and I decided it is probably an amalgam of mercury and a less dense metal, possibly copper. As for the size and weight, yeah, that doesn't quite sit right any way you look at it, unless it's hollow.
An amalgam of gold and mercury (RE: your last post) wouldn't work, way too dense.
Likewise, an amalgam of copper and mercury would be too dense. The density of copper on its own is about 9g/cc. I don't think that combining a metal with density 14g/cc and a metal with density 9g/cc could yield a metal with density 6g/cc. I'm not up on alloys and amalgams, though.

It's possible their numbers are way off, or they're using something completely non-mercury. Oh hey, I just remembered--gallium is a liquid at just above room temperature (29.77°C), which is probably Indian room temperature if my Indian friends describe the heat at all accurately. And the density would be right, 5.91g/cc as a solid at room temperature. (Though it's apparently denser as a liquid at its melting point, like water...so it's possible that it would be a wee bit less dense in a pool of cool water. Still, about the 6g/cc I estimated. Perfect.