Hard water boiling. When this is the case, it is usually caused by the presence of calcium sulphate/calcium chloride and/or magnesium sulphate/magnesium chloride in the water, which do not precipitate out as the temperature increases. Ions causing permanent hardness of water can be removed using a water softener, or ion exchange column. Total Permanent Hardness = Permanent Calcium Hardness + Permanent Magnesium Hardness With hard water, soap solutions form a white precipitate (soap scum) instead of producing lather, because the 2+ ions destroy the surfactant properties of the soap by forming a solid precipitate (the soap scum). A major component of such
Magnesium gives a Grignard reagent, which is a very useful tool for preparing alcohols. Magnesium salts are included in various foods, fertilizers (magnesium is a component of chlorophyll), and microbe culture media. Magnesium sulfite is used in the manufacture of paper (sulfite process). Magnesium phosphate is used to fireproof wood used in construction. Magnesium hexafluorosilicate is used for moth-proofing textiles. The important interaction between phosphate and magnesium ions makes magnesium essential to the basic nucleic acid chemistry of all cells of all known living organisms. More than 300 enzymes require magnesium ions for their catalytic action, including all enzymes using or