Magnesium

This article is about the chemical element. For the use of magnesium as a medication, see Magnesium (medical use).
Not to be confused with manganese (Mn).

Magnesium, 12Mg
Magnesium
Pronunciation/mæɡˈniːziəm/ ​(mag-NEE-zee-əm)
Appearanceshiny grey solid
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Mg)
Magnesium in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium
Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon
Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton
Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon
Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon
Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson
Be
↑
Mg
↓
Ca
sodium ← magnesium → aluminium
Atomic number (Z)12
Groupgroup 2 (alkaline earth metals)
Periodperiod 3
Block  s-block
Electron configuration[Ne] 3s2
Electrons per shell2, 8, 2
Physical properties
Phase at STPsolid
Melting point923 K ​(650 °C, ​1202 °F)
Boiling point1363 K ​(1091 °C, ​1994 °F)
Density (at 20° C)1.737 g/cm3[3]
when liquid (at m.p.)1.584 g/cm3
Heat of fusion8.48 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization128 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity24.869[4] J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure
P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k
at T (K) 701 773 861 971 1132 1361
Atomic properties
Oxidation statescommon: +2
0,[5] +1[6]
ElectronegativityPauling scale: 1.31
Ionization energies
  • 1st: 737.7 kJ/mol
  • 2nd: 1450.7 kJ/mol
  • 3rd: 7732.7 kJ/mol
  • (more)
Atomic radiusempirical: 160 pm
Covalent radius141±7 pm
Van der Waals radius173 pm
Color lines in a spectral range
Spectral lines of magnesium
Other properties
Natural occurrenceprimordial
Crystal structure ​hexagonal close-packed (hcp) (hP2)
Lattice constants
Hexagonal close packed crystal structure for magnesium
a = 320.91 pm
c = 521.03 pm (at 20 °C)[3]
Thermal expansion25.91×10−6/K (at 20 °C)[3][a]
Thermal conductivity156[7] W/(m⋅K)
Electrical resistivity43.9[8] nΩ⋅m (at 20 °C)
Magnetic orderingparamagnetic
Molar magnetic susceptibility+13.1×10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)[9]
Young's modulus45 GPa
Shear modulus17 GPa
Bulk modulus35.4[10] GPa
Speed of sound thin rod4940 m/s (at r.t.) (annealed)
Poisson ratio0.290
Mohs hardness1–2.5
Brinell hardness44–260 MPa
CAS Number7439-95-4
History
Namingafter Magnesia, Greece[11]
DiscoveryJoseph Black (1755[11])
First isolationHumphry Davy (1808[11])
Isotopes of magnesium
Main isotopes[12] Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
24Mg 79% stable
25Mg 10% stable
26Mg 11% stable
 Category: Magnesium
| references

Magnesium is a chemical element; it has symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic table) it occurs naturally only in combination with other elements and almost always has an oxidation state of +2. It reacts readily with air to form a thin passivation coating of magnesium oxide that inhibits further corrosion of the metal. The free metal burns with a brilliant-white light. The metal is obtained mainly by electrolysis of magnesium salts obtained from brine. It is less dense than aluminium and is used primarily as a component in strong and lightweight alloys that contain aluminium.

In the cosmos, magnesium is produced in large, aging stars by the sequential addition of three helium nuclei to a carbon nucleus. When such stars explode as supernovas, much of the magnesium is expelled into the interstellar medium where it may recycle into new star systems. Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust[13] and the fourth most common element in the Earth (after iron, oxygen and silicon), making up 13% of the planet's mass and a large fraction of the planet's mantle. It is the third most abundant element dissolved in seawater, after sodium and chlorine.[14]

This element is the eleventh most abundant element by mass in the human body and is essential to all cells and some 300 enzymes.[15] Magnesium ions interact with polyphosphate compounds such as ATP, DNA, and RNA. Hundreds of enzymes require magnesium ions to function. Magnesium compounds are used medicinally as common laxatives and antacids (such as milk of magnesia), and to stabilize abnormal nerve excitation or blood vessel spasm in such conditions as eclampsia.[15]

  1. ^ "Standard Atomic Weights: Magnesium". CIAAW. 2011.
  2. ^ Prohaska, Thomas; Irrgeher, Johanna; Benefield, Jacqueline; Böhlke, John K.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Ding, Tiping; Dunn, Philip J. H.; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Meijer, Harro A. J. (4 May 2022). "Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. doi:10.1515/pac-2019-0603. ISSN 1365-3075.
  3. ^ a b c d Arblaster, John W. (2018). Selected Values of the Crystallographic Properties of Elements. Materials Park, Ohio: ASM International. ISBN 978-1-62708-155-9.
  4. ^ Rumble, p. 4.61
  5. ^ Mg(0) has been synthesized in a compound containing a Na2Mg22+ cluster coordinated to a bulky organic ligand; see Rösch, B.; Gentner, T. X.; Eyselein, J.; Langer, J.; Elsen, H.; Li, W.; Harder, S. (2021). "Strongly reducing magnesium(0) complexes". Nature. 592 (7856): 717–721. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..717R. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03401-w. PMID 33911274. S2CID 233447380
  6. ^ Bernath, P. F.; Black, J. H. & Brault, J. W. (1985). "The spectrum of magnesium hydride" (PDF). Astrophysical Journal. 298: 375. Bibcode:1985ApJ...298..375B. doi:10.1086/163620.. See also Low valent magnesium compounds.
  7. ^ Rumble, p. 12.137
  8. ^ Rumble, p. 12.28
  9. ^ Rumble, p. 4.70
  10. ^ Gschneider, K. A. (1964). Physical Properties and Interrelationships of Metallic and Semimetallic Elements. Solid State Physics. Vol. 16. p. 308. doi:10.1016/S0081-1947(08)60518-4. ISBN 9780126077162.
  11. ^ a b c Rumble, p. 4.19
  12. ^ Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Abundance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Anthoni, J. Floor (2006). "The chemical composition of seawater". Seafriends.
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference nih was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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