Magnesium sulfide reacts with oxygen to form the corresponding sulfate, magnesium sulfate. MgS reacts with water to give hydrogen sulfide and magnesium hydroxide. In the BOS steelmaking process, sulfur is the first element to be removed. Sulfur is removed from the impure blast furnace iron by the addition of several hundred kilograms of magnesium powder by a lance. Magnesium sulfide is formed, which then floats on the molten iron and is removed. MgS is a wide band-gap direct semiconductor of interest as a blue-green emitter, a property that has been known since the early 1900s. The wide-band gap property also allows the
Magnesium alloy is elevated by 200–300 K. An oxygen-free atmosphere is not necessary for machining operations. Magnesium alloy Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium with other metals (called an alloy), often aluminum, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium is the lightest structural metal. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structure, which affects the fundamental properties of these alloys. Plastic deformation of the hexagonal lattice is more complicated than in cubic latticed metals like aluminium, copper and steel; therefore, magnesium alloys are typically used as cast alloys, but research of wrought alloys has been more extensive since 2003. Cast magnesium