Magnesium (pronounced /mæɡˈniːziəm/, mag-NEE-zee-əm) is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole. This preponderance of magnesium is related to the fact that it is easily built up in supernova stars from a sequential addition of three helium nuclei to carbon (whic...
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Magnesium (pronounced /mæɡˈniːziəm/, mag-NEE-zee-əm) is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole. This preponderance of magnesium is related to the fact that it is easily built up in supernova stars from a sequential addition of three helium nuclei to carbon (which in turn is made from three helium nuclei). Magnesium constitutes about 2% of the Earth's crust by mass, which makes it the eighth most abundant element in the crust. Magnesium ion's high solubility in water helps ensure that it is the third most abundant element dissolved in seawater.
Magnesium is the 11th most abundant element by mass in the human body; its ions are essential to all living cells, where they play a major role in manipulating important biological polyphosphate compounds like ATP, DNA, and RNA. Hundreds of enzymes thus require...
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