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Magnesium create up 2 percent of the Earth ’s insolence , but you wo n’t see this silvery , light-colored metal in nature . This various element pass course only in combination with other constituent , such as carbon paper , calcium and oxygen , as in the common mineral dolomite .
Magnesium was n’t purify until 1808 , when Cornish pill pusher Sir Humphry Davy , who created a small amount by head for the hills an electrical current through magnesium oxide , consort to theRoyal Society of Chemistry . In 1831 , Gallic apothecary Antoine Bussy was the first to create a substantial amount of pure atomic number 12 , accord to the RSC .
Magnesite (magnesium carbonate)
The metal can be mixed with other metals , particularly aluminum , for use in reach gondola body , salute cans and other item that need to be light and strong . Magnesium is flammable , so one of its main the States is for flares and pyrotechnic . During World War II , the element was even used to make incitive bombs .
Just the facts
According to the Jefferson National Linear Accelerator Laboratory , the properties of atomic number 12 are :
Biological metal
Magnesium is born in ace , when , under extreme temperatures , helium and neon fuse . It ’s the eighth - most abundant factor in the universe , consort to theU.S. Geological Survey . On Earth , magnesium is found both in the crust and in the mantle ; it ’s also the third - most abundant mineral break up in seawater , with a 0.13 pct concentration .
After Davy isolated Mg in 1808 , several scientist worked to purify the metal using various methods , according to the USGS . It was n’t until 1909 , though , that an electrolysis method acting , developed by Robert Bunsen ( inventor of the Bunsen burner ) , made industrial production potential .
Magnesium burns too easily to be used widely for building , concord to the Jefferson Lab , but when mix with aluminum , it creates an alloy that is strong , clean and easy to work with .
Magnesium also has biologic USA . It ’s part of chlorophyll , the fleeceable paint that implant habituate to extract vigor from sunlight . The element is also essential to more than 300 biologic processes in the human body , according to theU.S. National Library of Medicine . Adult woman should take in about 320 milligrams of magnesium a day , and grownup men 420 milligrams , according to the NLM . fruit , vegetable , nuts , legumes and whole grain are salutary root . Doctor sometime recommendmagnesium supplementsfor a variety of aesculapian conditions , including high bloodline pressure level , premenstrual syndrome and diabetes .
Who knew?
Current research
conceive of a bandage that would kill bacterium from inside a wound . That ’s the goal of Tufts University biomedical locomotive engineer Fiorenzo Omenetto and his colleagues , who have created an implantable gimmick of silk and magnesium that can knock out a staph contagion before dissolving harmlessly inside the body .
Typically , aesculapian implants are made of metal or other permanent materials . That means they either become part of the soundbox always , or they must be removed , a process that can take risk of infection of contagion or other complications .
Omenetto and his team are work to make grow something very different . Using a substrate of silk — which is made up of amino group acids , the building pulley-block of protein — and a ringlet of magnesium , the researchers were capable to produce a simple miniature heater . Once implant into the trunk , the bullet can be turned on , increasing the temperature of the tissue paper just enough to killStaphylococcus aureusbacteria . After days or weeks , depending on the twist of the silk and the thickness of the magnesium , the machine dissolves . Tests in mice found that the gimmick successfully knock out the bacteria , and that in the backwash , the tissue was perfectly intelligent , with no signs of increase levels of silk protein or magnesium . The researchersreported their findingsin November in the daybook Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Magnesium made a good candidate for the coil , Omenetto told Live Science , because it transgress down in contact with body fluids and because it is so biocompatible . The advocate day-by-day allowance account for magnesium in the diet , accord to the Institute of Medicine , is between 300 and 400 milligrams per Clarence Day . The heater implant contains a mere 30 micrograms of magnesium , a drop in the bucket in comparison .
" When you examine the area around the tissue , you do n’t find traces above what you would find physiologically , " Omenetto said . " these are encouraging sign that these devices just kind of go aside . "
The machine is far from come to the aesculapian market , and the enquiry is very much in the " discovery - driven " stagecoach , he said . In theory , however , biodegradable silk - and - Mg devices could also be used for other purposes , like sensors for food to detect spoilage .
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