Magnesium
Magnesio (Mg, Z=12)
- Date
- 1808 · confidence high
- Place
- Royal Institution, London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Humphry Davy
- People
- 👤 Joseph Black1728–1799
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Joseph Black distinguished magnesia from lime in 1755; Davy obtained impure magnesium by electrolysis in 1808, and Bussy isolated it in pure form in 1831.
The name comes from Magnesia, in Thessaly.
What it led to
- Lightweight alloys for aviation and cars
- Magnesium photographic flash
- Grignard reactions in organic synthesis
Built on
- Voltaic pile1800
- Black's alkali chemistry
Made possible
- Magnesium flash
- Grignard reagents