Magnesium is one of the ten most widely distributed elements in nature, but it has not been discovered by scientists for a long time because it is not easily reduced from compounds to elemental state. After the battery was invented, chemists had the weapons to break down compounds of active elements. The elemental substances are separated by electrolysis, and they are determined as elements.
1. In 1755, Joseph Black (Joseph Black, UK) in Edinburgh identified magnesium as an element and identified bitter soil (magnesium oxide, MgO) in lime (calcium oxide, CaO).
2. In 1792, Anton Rupprecht was the first to remove impure magnesium metal by heating a mixture of bitter earth and charcoal.
3. In 1799, Thomas Henry discovered another magnesium ore called sepiolite (magnesium silicate), which he said was more used to make pipes in Turkey.
4. In May 1808, British chemist Sir Humphry Davy (17781829) electrolyzed the mixture of mercury and magnesium oxide to obtain magnesium amalgam. After distilling the mercury in the magnesium amalgam, he obtained silver-white metal magnesium .
5. In 1831, French scientist Antoine-Alexandre-Brutus Bussy used magnesium chloride and potassium to react to produce a considerable amount of metal magnesium.