Properties

Atomic Number	12
CAS Registry Number	7439-95-4
Chemical Symbol	Mg

History

The atomic number is 12 and the chemical symbol is Mg. The name originally used was magnium and was later changed to magnesium which is derived from Magnesia a district in the northeastern region of Greece called Thessalia. The Scottish chemist Joseph Black recognized it as a separate element in 1755 In 1808 the English chemist Humphry Davy obtained the impure metal and in 1831 the French pharmacist and chemist Antoine-Alexandre Brutus Bussy isolated the metal in the pure state.

Holden, Norman E., (2004). History of the origin of the chemical elements and their discoverers. National Nuclear Data Center. Retrieved from http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/content/elements.html