Magnesium is a light and shiny metal element. It is chemically active and when heated burns with a blinding and brilliant white light. sir Humphry Davy first prepared elementary magnesium in 1807.
Flash bulbs contain magnesium wire and oxygen. When the camera shutter is snapped, a small electric current from a battery ignites the wire and produces the flash. Incendiary bombs and flares also contain magnesium.
Since magnesium is a light metal (density 1.74), it is used where lightness is important, as in airplanes. Magnesium compounds include asbestos, talc and Epsom salts.
Magnesium (symbol Mg) is element number 12 and its atomic weight is 24.312 (24.32, O=16).
