Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12.
It is a shiny gray solid which bears a close physical resemblance to the other five elements in the second column (group 2, or alkaline earth metals) of the periodic table: all group 2 elements have the same electron configuration in the outer electron shell and a similar crystal structure.
Magnesium is the eleventh most abundant element by mass in the human body and is essential to all cells and some 300 enzymes.
Magnesium ions interact with polyphosphate compounds such as ATP, DNA, and RNA. Hundreds of enzymes require magnesium ions to function. Magnesium compounds are used medicinally as common laxatives, antacids (e.g., milk of magnesia), and to stabilize abnormal nerve excitation or blood vessel spasm in such conditions as eclampsia.
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13.
It is a silvery-white, soft, non-magnetic and ductile metal in the boron group.
By mass, aluminium makes up about 8% of the Earth’s crust; it is the third most abundant element after oxygen and silicon and the most abundant metal in the crust, though it is less common in the mantle below.
Aluminum powder, coated appears as a light gray or silver powdered metal. Easily ignited; burns with an intense flame.
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8, meaning its nucleus has 8 protons.
Oxygen is a member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds.
Dioxygen is used in cellular respiration and many major classes of organic molecules in living organisms contain oxygen, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and fats, as do the major constituent inorganic compounds of animal shells, teeth, and bone.
Oxygen was isolated by Michael Sendivogius before 1604, but it is commonly believed that the element was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in Uppsala, in 1773 or earlier, and Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire, in 1774.