I crushed Magnesium Sulfate into a fine powder, and held a flame up to it. It started drying out (despite the apparent dry nature of it) and water, from who knows where, started boiling. I was left with a very hard clump of it, almost transparent. I could get it to glow red-hot, but not catch fire, and it would cool off the instant I removed the flame. Any ideas what's going on here? My thought is that the epsom salts gained water from the atmosphere, and the heat boiled it out.

Generally, Epsom salt is actually the heptahydrate (seven waters) of Magnesium Sulfate

 

MgSO4·7H2O

Hm. Cool. Thank you for your prompt, and helpful response. So much to learn, so little time. Thanks again:-)

So would that leave you with anhydrous Magnesium sulfate?

 

Kenneth Anderson

I could get it to glow red-hot, but not catch fire, and it would cool off the instant I removed the flame.

 

MgSO4 doesn't burn! It decomposes at 1124 celsius.