A chemical compound containing two chlorine atoms bonded to a central element, like mercury bichloride which was once used as a disinfectant.
From 'bi-' meaning two, combined with 'chloride' (from Greek 'chloros' meaning greenish-yellow, the color of chlorine gas). This systematic chemical nomenclature developed in the early 19th century as chemists needed precise names for new compounds.
Mercury bichloride was once called 'corrosive sublimate' and was so powerful at killing germs that doctors used it as a disinfectant—but it was also dangerously toxic, a reminder that old medicines were often as deadly as the diseases they treated!
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