O-Mg, It's Magnesium! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alkaline earth metals

Alkaline earth metals are the elements in the second column of the periodic table. There are six of them: Beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba) and radium (Ra). It is theorised that if/when element 120 is synthesised, it will be the next element of the group. Alkaline earth metals have rather low densities and melting points in comparison to most of the other metal groups.

In fact, magnesium has the lowest melting point out of all the elements in the group.

Answer: Three

The three stable isotopes of magnesium are Mg24, Mg25 and Mg26. This means that a Mg24 atom has twelve protons and twelve neutrons in its nucleus, a Mg25 atom has twelve protons and thirteen neutrons etc. The most abundant isotope of magnesium is Mg24, with a percentage of almost 80 percent. Mg28 has by far the longest half-life out of all the unstable isotopes, around 21 hours.

The lighter isotopes of magnesium (Mg23 and below) usually decay to sodium isotopes, while the heavier ones (Mg27 and up) decay to aluminium isotopes, which makes sense since sodium and aluminium are right before and after magnesium in the periodic table.

Answer: Humphry Davy

Sir Humphry Davy was a British chemist (from Cornwall, of course) who isolated magnesium for the first time in the early 19th century. He was also the first to isolate potassium, calcium and sodium, among others. Davy is considered one of the most important chemists because of his accomplishments, but out of all the honours dedicated to him, the following clerihew (type of short poem) stands out: 'Sir Humphry Davy/ Abominated gravy/ He lived in the odium/ Of having discovered sodium'. Ouch!

It is worth noting that Davy was the first to isolate magnesium as a separate element, but not the one who predicted it. Joseph Black recognised that magnesium was a new element in 1755.

Answer: Gray

Giving an exact colour to magnesium is very difficult, and depending on who you talk to, you will hear variations such as gray-white, silver-white, silvery, grayish, which sound rather similar. Magnesium's colour comes from the oxidation which occurs between magnesium and the oxygen in the air, a process similar to (but much faster than) the creation of rust in iron. All alkaline earth metals have hues similar to magnesium.

Answer: Magnesium hydroxide

Magnesium hydroxide is an inorganic compound, which means it's not composed of carbon and cannot be found in living organisms (definitions of this term vary slightly). Its chemical formula is Mg(OH)2, with the parentheses meaning that the oxygen and hydrogen are found in hydroxide form in this compound. Magnesium hydroxide is actually a white solid, but when found in liquid solutions it resembles milk.

In the late 19th century, an English pharmacist named Charles Henry Phillips patented a medicine which contained magnesium hydroxide under the name Phillips' Milk of Magnesia and since then the term milk of magnesia has been used in various antacids and laxatives. Out of the other compounds, magnesium sulfate, mostly known as Epsom salt, is used for therapeutic purposes.

Answer: China

Magnesium can be only found in nature combined with other elements, which means that it can only be obtained through various processes from minerals which contain magnesium, such as magnesite and dolomite. Magnesium is produced in various countries, such as Australia, Turkey, Brazil and Greece, but the vast majority of magnesium production happens in China.

Although the exact numbers change from year to year, in the 2010s China produces more than 500,000 tons of magnesium annually.

Answer: Sugar

Humans need a certain amount of magnesium in their diet. In the United States, the recommended daily amount is around 400mg for men and 310mg for women. Perhaps the best source of magnesium is cocoa. Almonds and other nuts are also a very good source, as is spinach. Dried figs, avocados and bananas are often listed as alternative choices. Sugar, on the other hand, has little to no magnesium. According to the US Department of Agriculture, there are 9mg of magnesium per 100g of brown sugar and an astounding 0mg of magnesium per 100g of white (granulated) sugar.

Answer: An area in Greece

Magnesia is the area around the Pagasetic Gulf in Greece. Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, was the king of Iolcos, which is in Magnesia. Magnesia was known from antiquity as the home of two minerals which were considered as a pair. The 'male', which attracted iron, is now known to be an iron ore named magnetite. The 'female' came in the form of two ores, magnesia negra and magnesia alba. Magnesia negra was renamed manganesa, which gave us the element manganese (Mn), while magnesia alba gave us magnesium. To sum up, Magnesia gave its name to two elements and an iron oxide. Not bad Magnesia, not bad at all.

Magnus is a name used by various Scandinavian kings. The Magna Carta is of course the famous document that first put limits to the power of kings (and queens!) in England. Both get their name from the Latin word for great (magnus/magna/magnum). As for the wolf, its Latin counterpart is lupus.

Answer: Dry powder

Fires that have flammable metals as a source are classified as Class D fires. These can be extinguished by using Class D dry powder extinguishers. Fires like these are exceedingly dangerous because they react differently than your typical fire. For example, magnesium alloys typically burn at temperatures over 2000C (over 3500F) and when they come in contact with water, they react and hydrogen gas is produced, which is highly flammable and will ignite because of the extremely high temperatures. CO2 extinguishers will also fail to extinguish a magnesium fire, because they will react again and form magnesium oxide and carbon. Halon also may react with the magnesium, again making it a less than ideal choice. Magnesium fires also produce ultraviolet light which is extremely damaging to the eyes, so you need to wear eye protective equipment such as masks or goggles that filter out UV light.

Answer: The chemical formula of magnesium oxide is Ox2Mg.

The formula for magnesium oxide is MgO, although OMg is also accepted. Room temperature is considered between 20-25C (68-77F), while magnesium's melting point is 650C (1202F), which means it's solid at room temperature (as are all metals except mercury). Magnesium is a light metal because of its relatively low density in comparison to other metals, which in turn makes the light magnesium alloys useful in aeronautics.

It also helps that magnesium is abundant, since it is the eighth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust (more than 2%). If we take into account the whole of Earth up to its inner core, magnesium becomes the fourth most abundant element, almost 14% of the Earth's mass. That's almost 10^24 kilos of magnesium right there!