Name       : Magnesium
Symbol     : Mg
Atomic #   : 12
Atom weight: 24.305
Melting P. : 648.8
Boiling P. : 1090
Oxidation  : +2
Pronounced : mag-NEE-zhi-em
From       : Named for ancient Magnesia in Thessaly, Greece
Identified : Sir Humphry Davy in 1808
Appearance : Lightweight, malleable, silvery-white metal
Note       : Eighth most abundant element in the known universe.

[Properties]

  Magnesium belongs to the set of Group-IIA metals known as the alkaline-
earth metals. This menas they have a number of significant properties in
common. They are all very metallic in nature, for example. Tehy are silvery
white, fairly hard, and good conductors of electricity.  They all have
much higher melting temperatures than their alkali-metal counterparts in
Group IA.
  Magnesium is perhaps better known for its high level of reactivity. It
combines with most nonmetals and is frequently used as an oxidizer to
displace other metal ions from their compounds. Magnesium also serves as
a catalyst in a few important inorganic reactions and in a rather large
number of biochemical processes.
  Finely ground magnesium readily burns in air, giving off a brilliant
blue-white light.  Magnesium was the primary ingredient in photographic
flash bulbs.