Group 12, by modern IUPAC numbering, is a
group of
chemical elements in the
periodic table. It includes
zinc (Zn),
cadmium (Cd) and
mercury (Hg). The further inclusion of
copernicium (Cn) in group 12 is supported by recent experiments on individual copernicium atoms. Group 12 is also known as the
volatile metals, although this can also more generally refer to any metal (which need not be in group 12) that has high
volatility, such as
polonium or
flerovium. Formerly this group was named
IIB (pronounced as "group two B", as the "II" is a
Roman numeral) by CAS and old IUPAC system.