Magnesium

Since I've not told you this before, I thought I should mention that the inspiration that gave me the idea to publish this series about the elements is to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry. Well, that and the fact that these videos are wonderful and I would have done this anyway!

Okay, so now that I've made that plain, let's move on to the next element in the periodic table. Magnesium, atomic number 12, is an alkaline earth metal whose symbol is Mg. This is another common element, being seventh most common in the Earth's crust, and ninth most common in the universe. It's the third most common element dissolved in seawater -- a factor that is especially important to those of you who keep tropical marine aquariums (translation: another expensive test kit that you need!). Magnesium is another element that is highly reactive, so it is not found in a pure state on Earth, unless a crazy-haired chemist has produced a pure chunk of vapor-deposited magnesium crystals using the Pidgeon process, as you see in the image at the top.

Magnesium has many uses, but most of us are familiar with aluminium-magnesium alloys, which are often found in our cell phones and other electronic gadgets that must be strong yet light weight. Gardeners and tropical fish hobbyists are also very familiar with magnesium, since plants need it to grow (a magnesium deficiency is indicated by yellow leaves, a deficiency that I've remedied for several species of my aquarium plants by adding small amounts of "bittersalz" every week). And of course, animals need small amounts of magnesium to support proper bodily functions, too. If you are a firefighter, then you are very familiar with magnesium, since it is a highly flammable element that releases a brilliant white light, as you'll see in this video:

Since there weren't any explosions in that previous film, I decided to look around for a magnesium-caused explosion. I didn't find any, but I did find this dramatic video of a magnesium flame that only got bigger -- much bigger -- when the fire department hit it with water:

Some of the light that burning magnesium produces is in the ultraviolet range. Just as ultraviolet light will burn your skin, it will also burn the retinas of your eyes if they are not protected, hence, the sunglasses that the observers were wearing.

You've already met these elements:

Sodium: Na, atomic number 11
Neon: Ne, atomic number 10
Fluorine: F, atomic number 9
Oxygen: O, atomic number 8
Nitrogen: N, atomic number 7
Carbon: C, atomic number 6
Boron: B, atomic number 5
Beryllium: Be, atomic number 4
Lithium: Li, atomic number 3
Helium: He, atomic number 2
Hydrogen: H, atomic number 1

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