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Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Danielisew on December 08, 2007, 08:35:12 AM

Title: Magnesium High Melting Temp..?
Post by: Danielisew on December 08, 2007, 08:35:12 AM

Could someone explain why magnesium has a high melting temperature in terms of its bonding?

I think it has something to do with the s shell being filled and it is more stable or something.. could someone please clarify? This is a (2) mark question.

Title: Re: Magnesium High Melting Temp..?
Post by: blurry on February 06, 2010, 11:53:04 PM

"Magnesium belongs to group 2 of the periodic table along with other elements like Calcium (Ca), beryllium (Be), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba) and radium (Ra). These elements are called alkaline Earth metals. Due to their smaller size, the electrons are more tightly bound in them and so the first ionization energies are higher than those of the corresponding group 1 elements. The second ionization energies are almost twice the first ionization energies in these elements. Magnesium forms bipositive cations, but they are less electropositive than the alkali elements. In view of the smaller size of the atoms and ions, alkaline earth metals are denser and harder than the alkali metals and have higher melting points."

source: http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iii/s-block-elements/magnesium.php