Magnesium is element 12, an alkaline earth of the s block, in group 2, period 3. Its ground-state configuration is [Ne] 3s2, and it usually shows the oxidation states 0, 2.
It was discovered in 1755, by Black.
Name origin: Magnesia, a district of Eastern Thessaly in Greece.
The periodic table, read every way a chemistry course asks for. This tool needs JavaScript; these are the pages it offers: