Burning Magnesium

Materials:

• Ring Stand
• Crucible
• Clay Ring
• Bunsen Burner
• Magnesium
• Scale

Safety:

• Wear Safety Goggles so the burning magnesium won't blow into your eyes
• Use tongs to hold on to magnesium
•  DO NOT LOOK AT THE BURNING LIGHT. IT HAS ULTRAVIOLET RAYS THAT COULD PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR EYES.

Procedure:

• First locate all of the materials needed for the lab
• Next, weigh the crucible and write down its weight
• Then grab several strips of magnesium and weigh them.Try to keep mass of total magnesium over .1g and less than .3g
• Now you're going to wad up the magnesium and put it in the crucible.
• The next thing is to turn on the bunsen burner so that the flame is barely touching the bottom of the crucible.
• Now you have to wait for the magnesium to catch fire. If after two minutes or so it hasn't caught fire, take one strip of magnesium out and put it right in the flame. Without looking at the now burning spark of death, try to use your peripheral vision to put it back into the crucible.
• Finally once it has finished burning, you will mass the crucible with the contents inside.
• The last thing is to add distilled water to the crucible and stir and see if it conducts electricity by putting a circuit with lights on it and connect it to the batteries.
• If the light turns on then you know the magnesium conducts electricity.

Results:
We concluded that the mass of the magnesium after it had burned, increased by .05g. We also found out that after we added the distilled water to the crucible and mixed it, the substance containing magnesium did conduct electricity through the circuit and the light turned on. This means that magnesium itself is a good conductor of electricity and can be used in many appliances.

Questions:

1. Magnesium Before-.17g                   Magnesium After-.22g                    Increase-.05g
2. Kinetic Energy was released by the product because it gave off heat and light
3. We know the magnesium reacts with the air because it started to burn pure magnesium and gave off a bright light
4. MgO; Mg3N2
5. The compound that makes up most of the products of MgO and Mg3N2 is mostly nitrogen and oxygen because it gives off different colors of light.
6. The magnesium did conduct electricity. The results did tell that the compounds were ionic because there was one metal and one nonmetal and it conducted electricity.
7. I think that if the magnesium would've lost mass is if not all the magnesium burned and left some ribbons in the bottom along with some burned pieces.
8. Magnesium helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, helps maintain a steady heart rhythm, supports a healthy immune stystem, and keeps bones strong. About 50% of total body magnesium is found in the bones.
9. Mg(OH)2 is used as a medicine for relief of heartburn and sore stomach. It is commonly called an over-the-counter drug called magnesium hydroxide.