Mason's Magnesium Lab

Mason Schreck. 1-13-11

Magnesium Lab

Safety Concerns--
> refrain from wearing baggy clothing
> wear proper eye protection
> refrain from wearing open toed shoes
> for girls (and some guys) have your hair pulled back
> do not look at the burning magnesium once it ignites, becuase it emits a bright UV light

Materials--
-crucible
-bunsen burner
-tongs
-matches/striker/lighter
-magnesium wiring
-triangle holder

Procedure--
1.) Measure about two 2" strips of magnesium "wiring" and twist them together
2.) Get you bunsen burner lit, and burning well.
3.) Get your crucible sitting in the little triange holder thing.
4.) Let the magnesium heat for two minutes.
5.) If nothing happens after two minutes, you may take the magnesium out with tongs and put it directly into the flame, just be aware that once it ignites you can only look at it with your peripheral vision to get it back into the crucible.

Luke and I, we did all of the first three steps in order. But as we watched another group wait for two minutes and nothing happened we decided to just put our magnesium straight into the flame. The effect was almost immediate, and the magnesium light up like a star. Luke video-taped it for us to use in our respective blogs, and it will be listed below.

Results--
             MASS
             > Empty--21.82g
             > w/ Magnesium--21.95
             > after burn--21.96g
It left a conducive substance behind after it burned. We were able to light up the light bulbs without touching the circuits wiring ends together.

Analyze
1.) TABLE
  Empty Crucible--21.82g
   Crucible w/ Mg before heating--21.95g
   Magnesium ribbon--.13g
   Crucible w/ Mg after burn--21.96g
   Mg products--.01g

2.) It was an exothermic reaction, becuase it gave off heat. That when the metal burnt, it burned off any pockets of oxygen in the magnesium, making it heavier.

3.) Because magnesium can be filled up with electrons fully by nitrogen and oxygen, depending on the amount of magnesium involved. And by depending on the color of the light when it burned.
4.) MgO and Mg2N2

5.) Magnesium and oxygen make up the majority of the remaining product.

6.) Yes it conducted an electric current, this shows that the compounds are ionic.

7.) That you didn't allow for two minutes to pass for oxygen to mix a lot into the crucible.

Real-World Chemistry
 1.)Yes it is listed as a component in a multi-vitamin and mineral tablet.

2.)Mg(OH)2 = Magnesium Hydroxide