• Question: why does magnesium go boom in water

    Asked by anon-246846 to Megan, Katherine, Jesse, Dave, AJ, Amelia on 16 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Megan Maunder

      Megan Maunder answered on 16 Mar 2020:

      I’m not a chemist, but my understanding, is that the explosion is the reaction when Magnesium and H2O become MgO and Hydrogen.

    • Photo: Jesse Dykes

      Jesse Dykes answered on 19 Mar 2020:

      Megan’s spot on, the rapid generation of gas is what makes it go boom

    • Photo: Dave Constable

      Dave Constable answered on 19 Mar 2020:

      Magnesium is a reactive metal. If you look at a periodic table, the elements in group 1 and 2 are reactive and will have a similar effect in water.

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