Magnesium and Calcium - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of magnesium and calcium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Magnesium vs Calcium.

magnesium and calcium - comparison

Compare magnesium with another element

Compare calcium with another element

Magnesium and Calcium – About Elements

Magnesium

Magnesium 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.

Calcium

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal, it is a reactive pale yellow metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium.

Magnesium in Periodic Table

Calcium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Magnesium and Calcium – Applications

Magnesium

Magnesium is the third-most-commonly-used structural metal, following iron and aluminium.[35] The main applications of magnesium are, in order: aluminium alloys, die-casting (alloyed with zinc), removing sulfur in the production of iron and steel, and the production of titanium in the Kroll process. Magnesium alloys are used in a wide variety of structural and nonstructural applications. Structural applications include automotive, industrial, materials-handling, commercial, and aerospace equipment. Magnesium alloys are used for parts that operate at high speeds and thus must be light weight to minimize inertial forces. Commercial applications include hand-held tools, laptops, luggage, and ladders, automobiles (e.g., steering wheels and columns, seat frames, transmission cases). Magnox (alloy), whose name is an abbreviation for “magnesium non-oxidizing”, is 99% magnesium and 1% aluminum, and is used in the cladding of fuel rods in magnox nuclear power reactors.

Calcium

The largest use of metallic calcium is in steelmaking, due to its strong chemical affinity for oxygen and sulfur. Its oxides and sulfides, once formed, give liquid lime aluminate and sulfide inclusions in steel which float out. Calcium compounds are used as manufacture of insecticides, paints, blackboard chalk, textile and fireworks.

Magnesium and Calcium – Comparison in Table

Element	Magnesium	Calcium
Density	1.738 g/cm3	1.55 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	200 MPa	110 MPa
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	45 GPa	20 GPa
Mohs Scale	2.5	1.5
Brinell Hardness	260 MPa	170 – 400 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	649 °C	842 °C
Boiling Point	1090 °C	1484 °C
Thermal Conductivity	156 W/mK	200 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	24.8 µm/mK	22.3 µm/mK
Specific Heat	1.02 J/g K	0.63 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	8.954 kJ/mol	8.54 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	127.4 kJ/mol	153.3 kJ/mol