How to form Magnesium chloride? What are its properties... I have the BEST profile picture on planet EARTH.
Answers
Explanation:
Isolating Magnesium
Although it forms many natural compounds, and is the eighth most abundant chemical element in the Earth's crust, magnesium does not appear in nature as a pure element. Pure magnesium is commonly made by separating it from seawater.
Salts exist as ions in water. Seawater contains many ions, including Mg2+. To separate out magnesium, first, calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is added to salty seawater. The chemical reaction produces a magnesium hydroxide precipitate, or solid:
The solid magnesium hydroxide from the initial reaction is then reacted with hydrochloric acid to produce magnesium chloride:
The water is evaporated, leaving solid magnesium chloride. Magnesium chloride is then heated, or fused, to produce liquefied magnesium chloride, which, when subjected to an electrical current, produces magnesium metal and chlorine gas:
This process is known as electrolysis. The liquid magnesium formed is cooled into convenient blocks of metal known as ingots. The chlorine gas is recycled to form hydrochloric acid for the production of more magnesium chloride.