Overview
Magnesium is the second ingredient in Group 2 (IIA) of the periodic desk a
chart that reveals how chemical components are associated to one another. The
components in Group 2 are often called the alkaline earth components. Different
components in that group embody
beryllium, calcium, strontium, barium,
and
radium.
Compounds of magnesium have been utilized by people for hundreds of years. But, the
ingredient itself was not remoted till 1808. The lengthy delay occurred
as a result of magnesium varieties very steady compounds. That signifies that such
compounds don’t break down very simply.
Magnesium is the seventh most plentiful ingredient within the Earth’s
crust. It additionally happens in massive quantities dissolved in ocean waters.
Giant quantities of magnesium are used to make alloys. An alloy is made by
melting or mixing two or extra metals. The combination has properties completely different
from these of the person metals. Magnesium alloys are fairly gentle, but
very sturdy. This property makes them helpful within the building of
airplanes and space-craft.
About 70 % of the magnesium compounds produced in the US
are used within the manufacture of refractory supplies. A refractory materials
is one that may stand up to very excessive temperatures by reflecting warmth.
Refractory supplies are used to line the ovens that preserve excessive
temperatures. The remaining 30 % of magnesium compounds are utilized in
agriculture, building, industrial, and chemical operations.
Discovery and naming
Compounds of magnesium are very plentiful within the Earth. Dolomite, or
calcium magnesium carbonate (CaMg(CO
3
2
, is an instance. Dolomite has been used as a constructing materials for
centuries.
One other well-known magnesium compound is Epsom salts, or magnesium sulfate
(MgSO
4
. Epsom salts are identified for his or her soothing qualities, most notably when
added to a shower. (See accompanying sidebar.)
Cautious research of magnesium and its compounds started within the center 1700s.
Scottish doctor and chemist Joseph Black (1728-99) carried out a few of
the earliest experiments on magnesium compounds. He reported on his
analysis in an article
that grew to become well-known. Black is typically given credit score for
“discovering” magnesium due to his work with the
ingredient.
By 1800, chemists knew that magnesium was a component. However nobody had been
in a position to put together pure magnesium steel. Magnesium holds very tightly to
different components in its compounds. Nobody had discovered a method to break the bonds
between magnesium and these different components.
In 1808, English chemist Humphry Davy (1778-1829) solved the issue by
passing an electrical present by way of molten (melted) magnesium oxide (MgO).
The present brought about the compound to interrupt aside, forming magnesium steel
and
oxygen
fuel:
Davy used this methodology to find numerous different components. (See sidebar
on Davy within the
calcium
entry in Quantity 1.) Like magnesium, these components type compounds that
are very troublesome to interrupt aside. An electrical present supplies the power
to interrupt these compounds down into their components.
The identify magnesium goes again many centuries. It was chosen in honor of a
area in Greece often called Magnesia. The area accommodates massive provides of
magnesium compounds.
The attract of Epsom salts
P
erhaps the very best know magnesium compound is magnesium sulfate (MgSO
4
). It’s popularly often called Epson salts.
One of many earliest tales about Epsom salts dates again to 1618. The
city of Epsom, in Surrey, England, was affected by a extreme drought.
A farmer named Henry Wicker introduced his cattle to drink from a water
gap in town commons (central park). However the cattle wouldn’t drink
the water. Wicker was stunned as a result of he knew they had been very thirsty.
He tasted the water himself and located that it was very bitter.
The bitterness was resulting from magnesium sulfate within the water. This compound
grew to become often called Epsom salts.
Folks quickly realized that soaking within the pure waters that contained
Epsom salts made them really feel higher. The salts appeared to have properties
that soothed the physique. Earlier than lengthy, soaking in these waters grew to become very
standard.
In the present day, Epsom salts are utilized in bathtub water. They chill out sore muscular tissues and
take away tough pores and skin. Many individuals consider the salts have the identical stress-free
impact as scorching springs. Some gardeners even consider that sprinkling Epsom
salts within the backyard helps flowers and greens develop!
Bodily properties
Magnesium is a reasonably onerous, silvery-white steel. It’s the lightest of
all structural metals. These metals are sturdy sufficient for use to construct
buildings, bridges, vehicles, and airplanes.
Magnesium is definitely fabricated. Fabrication means shaping, molding,
bending, reducing, and dealing with a steel. Metals have to be fabricated
earlier than they are often was helpful merchandise. Metals which might be sturdy,
powerful, or onerous are usually not simply fabricated. They have to be transformed to an
alloy. A steel that
is
extra simply fabricated (comparable to magnesium) is mixed with them.
The melting level of magnesium is 651°C (1,200°F) and its
boiling level is 1,100°C (2,000°F). Its density is 1.738 grams
per cubic centimeter.
At excessive temperatures, magnesium bums with a blinding white gentle.
Chemical properties – “magnesium properties physical”
Magnesium is a reasonably energetic steel. It reacts slowly with chilly water and
extra quickly with scorching water. It combines with oxygen at room temperature
to type a skinny pores and skin of magnesium oxide. It burns with a blinding white
gentle at greater temperatures. Magnesium reacts with most acids and with
some alkalis. An alkali is a chemical with properties reverse these of an
acid. Sodium hydroxide (frequent lye comparable to Drano) and lime-water are
examples of alkalis.
Magnesium additionally combines simply with many non-metals, together with nitrogen,
sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine, fluorine, bromine, and iodine. It additionally
reacts readily with numerous compounds, comparable to carbon monoxide (CO),
carbon dioxide (CO
2
, sulfur dioxide (SO
2
, and nitric oxide (NO).
Prevalence in nature
The abundance of magnesium within the Earth’s crust is estimated to be
about 2.1 %. That makes it the sixth commonest ingredient within the
earth. It additionally happens in seawater. A cubic mile
of seawater is estimated to comprise as much as six million tons of magnesium.
There are a lot of naturally occurring minerals of magnesium. A few of the most
necessary are dolomite; magnesite, or magnesium carbonate (MgCO
3
; carnallite, or potassium magnesium chloride (KMgCl
3
; and epsomite, or magnesium sulfate (MgSO
4
.
The biggest producer of magnesium ores is Turkey. Different massive producers
are North Korea, China, Slovakia, Austria, and Russia. The quantity of
magnesium produced in the US isn’t reported so as to
defend commerce secrets and techniques.
Magnesium produced in the US comes from three sources:
seawater, brine, and mines. Seawater is processed to acquire magnesium by
firms in California, Delaware, Florida, and Texas. Magnesium is
obtained from brine in Michigan and Utah. Brine is water that’s even
saltier than seawater. Lastly, some magnesium compounds are taken from
mines in Nevada, North Carolina, and Washington.
Isotopes
There are three naturally occurring isotopes of magnesium: magnesium-24,
magnesium-25, and magnesium-26. Isotopes are two or extra types of an
ingredient. Isotopes differ from one another in keeping with their mass quantity.
The quantity written to the correct of the ingredient’s identify is the mass
quantity. The mass quantity represents the variety of protons plus neutrons in
the nucleus of an atom of the ingredient. The variety of protons determines
the ingredient, however the variety of neutrons within the atom of anybody ingredient can
differ. Every variation is an isotope.
One radioactive isotope of magnesium, magnesium-28, additionally exists. A
radioactive isotope is one which breaks aside and offers off some type of
radiation. Radioactive isotopes are produced when very small particles are
fired at atoms. These particles stick within the atoms and make them
radioactive. Magnesium-28 has no necessary industrial makes use of.