Once the destroyer of cities - now it's a saver of energy Magnesium (Mg)
A silvery-white metal that ignites easily in air and burns with a bright light.
Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, but does not occur in uncombined state in nature. It is found in large deposits in minerals such as pyroxenite and dolomite. The sea contains trillions of tonnes of magnesium, and this is the source of much of the 850,000 tonnes now produced each year. It is prepared by reducing magnesium oxide with silicon, or by the electrolysis of molten magnesium chloride.
Magnesium was used extensively in first world war munitions, such as incendiary flares and tracer rounds, where its flammability and intense light emitting properties were a benefit. During the second world war, the metal's low density was exploited as it was used extensively in military aircraft.
The summer of 1618 saw England gripped by drought, but as Henry Wicker walked across Epsom Common he was came across a pool of water from which thirsty cattle refused to drink. He found that the water tasted bitter and on evaporation it yielded a salt which had a remarkable effect: it acted as a laxative. This became the famous Epsom's salt (magnesium sulfate, MgSO4) and became a treatment for constipation for the next 350 years.
The first person to recognize that magnesium was an element was Joseph Black at Edinburgh in 1755. He distinguished magnesia (magnesium oxide, MgO) from lime (calcium oxide, CaO) although both were produced by heating similar kinds of carbonate rocks, magnesite and limestone respectively. Another magnesium mineral called meerschaum (magnesium silicate) was reported by Thomas Henry in 1789, who said that it was much used in Turkey to make pipes for smoking tobacco.
An impure form of metallic magnesium was first produced in 1792 by Anton Rupprecht who heated magnesia with charcoal. A pure, but tiny, amount of the metal was isolated in 1808 by Humphry Davy by the electrolysis of magnesium oxide. However, it was the French scientist, Antoine-Alexandre-Brutus Bussy who made a sizeable amount of the metal in 1831 by reacting magnesium chloride with potassium, and he then studied its properties.
#magnesium #element #earthcrust #metal #pyroxenite #dolomite #seadeposits #magnesiumproduction #reductionprocess #magnesiumoxide #silicon #electrolysis #magnesiumchloride #worldwari #munitions #incendiaryflares #tracerrounds #militaryaircraft #metalproperties #flammability #intenselight #epsomssalt #magnesiumsulfate #josephblack #edinburgh #magnesia #lime #carbonaterocks #magnesite #limestone #meerschaum #thomashenry #metallicmagnesium #antonrupprecht #humphrydavy #electrolysisprocess #antoinealexandrebrutusbussy #chemistry #history #scientificdiscoveries
Homo sapiens sapiens
2moI've been using a magnesium oxide supplement with added herbs like peppermint and ginger. Initially, my goal was to improve sleep and reduce anxiety, but I learned that magnesium oxide isn't absorbed very efficiently. However, the additional herbs seem to aid digestion. The recommendation to limit supplement intake to no more than 350 mg daily was new to me; it seems I might need to cut back on my supplement usage.