How Has Magnesium Changed The Course Of History

How has the extraction of metals changed the course of history?

Metal: Magnesium

Magnesium is a metal that is both industrially and biologically important. It is the lightest structural metal that is currently available for us. Its other advantages include excellent fatigue, denting and damping resistance. Therefore it is used commonly in alloys for car and airplane construction, electronics, luggage and power tools. It is also used in fireworks and sparklers, as it is easy to ignite and burns brightly. Historically, Magnesium was used in both world wars for German military aircrafts, and was a main aircraft construction metal. Photosynthesis also requires magnesium to take place.

Magnesium is the eighth most plentiful element in the earth’s crust. Its high reactivity causes it to only be found as a compound in seawater, brines and rocks. Aside from China, Magnesium is extracted from Magnesium Chloride in a process called Dow process. This method uses electrolysis, a cheaper method in places where power costs are low. The first step of this method is preparing the raw material of magnesium chloride. Heated dolomite, an anhydrous carbonate mineral with formula CaMg(CO3)2, is first added to the original seawater, increasing the Magnesium content of the solution. Magnesium hydroxide, Mg(OH)2, precipitates and is

However, it took nearly 200 years for Magnesium to be isolated as a metal. The main reason was that electrolysis was necessary to extract Magnesium, and the first noted use of Electrolysis occurred only in 1785 when tin, zinc and antimony were extracted from their salts. Another problem that the society has faced was that electrolysis requires a huge amount of energy and is rather expensive. Science helped overcome these problems when electrolysis was discovered after the discovery of positive and negative charges, as well as discovering how to make larger amounts of cheaper energy