Magnesium is a silvery white metal. The surface of magnesium metal is covered with a thin layer of oxide that helps protect the metal from attack by air. Once ignited, magnesium metal burns in air with a characteristic blinding bright white flame to give a mixture of white magnesium oxide, MgO, and magnesium nitride, Mg3N2.
Magnesium is very reactive towards the halogens such as chlorine, Cl2 or bromine, Br2, and burns to form the dihalides magnesium chloride, MgCl2 and magnesium bromide, MgBr2,
