An analytical equation of state by Song and Mason is developed to
calculate the PVT properties of mercury. The equation of state is based on
the statistical-mechanical perturbation theory of hard convex bodies and
can be written as a fifth-order polynomial in the density. There exists three
temperature-dependent parameters in the equation of state; the second
virial coefficient, an effective molecular volume, and a scaling factor for the
average contact pair distribution function of hard convex bodies. The
temperature-dependant parameters have been calculated using corresponding-
states correlations based on the surface tension and the liquid density at
the normal boiling point. Employing the present equation of state, we have
calculated the PVT properties of mercury over a wide range of temperatures
and pressures. The average absolute deviation for the calculated
density of mercury in the saturation and compressed states is 1.09%.