Click Here for Answer
Naming History
Magnesium derives its name from a district in Eastern Thessaly in Greece which itself was named after the ancient Magnetes tribe. This tribe also controlled parts of Western Turkey where Magnesium was initially discovered.
Discovery
Magnesium was first recognized as an element in 1775 by Joseph Black while heating magnesia (magnesium oxide) and lime (calcium oxide) and distinguishing a difference between the two. The first attempt at isolating the pure element was preformed by Anton Rupprecht in 1792 when he heated magnesia with charcoal and produced an impure form Magnesium. The first pure form of Magnesium metal was isolated by Humphry Davy in 1808 by preforming elecrolysis of magnesium oxide.
Characteristics
Magnesium is an alkali earth metal and an essential elment for almost all living things. Magnesium is the third most useful metal (Iron and Aluminum) in various industrial applications.
Magnesium is at the heart of chlorophyll allowing plants to capture energy from the sun.
Magnsium is the ninth most abundant element in the Universe.
Human blood contains 38 parts per million (ppm) of Magnesium.
Bones contain somewhere between 700 and 1,800 ppm Magnesium.
Magnesium is an important component in human tissues making up roughly 900 ppm.
There is around 25 g of Magnesium in the average human body.
The Earth's crust contains 23,000 ppm Magnesium (2.3 %) making it the seventh most abundant element.
Naturally Occurring Minerals
There are more than 50 minerals known that contain Magnesium such as dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) and magnesia (MgO). The main ore of Magnesium is magnesite (MgCO3) and 24 million tonnes of it are mined every year with nearly half of that coming from China, and over 1 million tonnes annually from Russia, Turkey and North Korea. In addition to being able to be extracted from the Earth, there are over one million billion tonnes of Magnesium dissolved in the oceans.
Where can I find this element @ home
Human ingest between 250 and 350 mg of Magensium daily.
Foods with high levels of Magnesium are almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, soybeans, parsnips, bran, chocolate, coca and brewer's yeast.
Magnesium is added to iron or steel to decrease the weight while retaining the strength.
There are some amounts of Magnesium in laptops, cameras, car seats, luggage, lawnmowers, power tools and disk drives.
Magensium as an alloy with elements such as Aluminum are lightweight options for use in cars, airplanes and aerospace applications.