Magnesium

When it was discovered?

It was discovered in year 1808.

By whom it was discovered?

In 1755, Joseph Black, a Scottish found out that magnesium was its own compound by examining two compounds of magnesia and lime (calcium carbonate. Sir Humphrey Davy separated magnesium into its own element in 1808. He used the method “electrolysis” to a mixture of magnesium oxide and mercuric oxide and heated the compound in a tube to take away mercury, which left pure magnesium behind. Antoine A.B. Bussy was a French chemist who found a way to isolate magnesium in large quantities. He heated magnesium chloride and potassium which formed potassium chloride, which he then remove from the tube, and that left small globules of magnesium. Most people said that Sir Humphrey Davy discovered magnesium probably because he was able to isolate it and which made it useful.

How it is found in nature?

Magnesium’s ions are vital in all living things. It is the eighth-most abundant element in the Earth's crust and it is the second-most plentiful ion in seawater. Most of the magnesium is acquired by electrolysis of fused magnesium chloride, which is found in sea water, brines, or wells.

What are its properties and uses?

Magnesium’s symbol is Mg, its atomic number 12. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity and has uses apart from being used as antacids and forming the bright light in fireworks.

Magnesium is essential for over 300 processes in your body. Basically, it causes everything to function better: bones, digestion, muscles, and nerves. Fatigue, muscle weakness and migraines could be some consequences for the absence of magnesium in our body. More severe illnesses include high blood pressure, asthma, osteoporosis, glaucoma and less effective immune system. Half of human’s body's magnesium is found in bones, with others found in cells and 1% in blood. Magnesium is also vital for plants. It is an important element in the chlorophyll molecule.

So, in gardening and farming, magnesium sulfate can be used to richen soil that lacks magnesium. Because magnesium emanates a bright light when burned, magnesium is used in fireworks, flares and bombs. It is also included in rocket and missile fuels. Magnesium is also an element of flash light powders used in photography. Another main use of magnesium is avoiding corrosion of steel and iron. This is particularly handy in pipelines and the bottom of ships; these materials are electrically coated with magnesium. Since magnesium oxidizes rapidly and iron oxidizes gradually, mixing magnesium and iron together prevents iron from rusting and corroding. Since magnesium is lighter than aluminum, it is suitable as an alloy. It makes other metals lighter and more simply welded, machined or cast. Other than being used in aircraft, wheels, engine parts, and missiles, magnesium is also used in computers for radio-frequency shielding. Mixing aluminum with magnesium makes beverage cans. It is also used as a reducing agent in the manufacturing of pure uranium and other metals from their salts. The hydroxide (milk of magnesia), chloride, sulfate (Epsom salts), and citrate are used in medicine. Dead-burned magnesite is used in bricks and liners in furnaces and converters.

Sources:

http://answers.yourdictionary.com/science/who-discovered-magnesium.html

http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/12.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium