Question

A chunk of Mg metal is lit on fire. It creates a super bright white light. Once the fire is out there is just a white power left. How do you explain what happened?

Answer 1

A chemical reaction between Mg metal and oxygen that produced magnesium oxide (white powder).

Step-by-step explanation:

Solid magnesium (Mg metal) can react with
`O_(2)` when it is lit. This produces magnesium oxide which is whitish in color. The balanced equation for the chemical reaction is shown below:

`2Mg_((s))+ O_(2(g))` ⇒
`2MgO_((s))`

In the reaction above, Mg is the solid magnesium and MgO is the magnesium oxide which is a white powder.