Mana is the most important thing in Magic.  Without mana you can't summon creatures or use them and essentially you'll lose.  Mana comes in five different colors.  It comes in black, white, red, green, and blue.  Most cards use only one kind of mana but some use two or none at all.

		You can only play one mana a turn and after you tap it you can't use it until the next turn.  To play mana simply by removing mana from your hand and placing it on the field.  After you play manna you can ''Tap'' it.  After you play mana you can use it unless it says it comes into play tapped.  Mana is the most useful card in Magic.
		Basic mana is the most common kind of mana and consists of five colors.  Basic mana can only be tapped for the color that it is.  If the color mana you tap isn't the same color as the card your it still counts but only as 1 and not as the color that it is.  If it is the same color as the card being played it counts as the color that it is.  Once you have tapped enough mana you can play the card you desire.
		Non-basic mana is uncommon because it can be tapped for two colors.  Most non-basic mana has some sort of a catch though.  Often it comes into play tapped which can slow things down and make it hard early on.  Non-basic mana allows you to get different cards out faster making your late game stronger.  Some decks work better with non-basic mana and others don't.

Mana burn rarely occurs because most card can't cause mana burn or your not stupid enough to let it hurt you.  Mana burn occurs when you tap mana and can't use it.  For every mana you tap you take one point of damage.  Most of the time you don't tap mana that you can't use.  But, some cards give you mana and you might not need it so it can occur.  Manna burn occurs very little but it can change the game.