What is aluminum?
Aluminum is a white-silvery metal which is widely used in different industries. It is one of the most copious element and the third most regular element of our planet.It is of 8.23% of the earth’s crust and a third most element after the oxygen and silicon.The adaptability of this metal is immense it is the most broadly used metal after the steel.
History of Aluminum:Aluminum has a long history it was introduced around 170 years ago. Primarily when it was founded it was more expensive than the gold although after five years its price drastically fell down because of the latest research and findings of that time.
Since it has been successfully produced the demand of this metal has increased by the passage of time. Aluminum is used in various industries like aircraft manufacturing, in construction industries windows, doors, fences, in food packaging etc. Besides that aluminum is a very good conductor of electricity although not equally good to cooper and silver but it is widely used in electrical industry.
Use of Aluminum in Electronic Industry:
Aluminum is a clear option for manufacturers to use it in electronic applications. Its resourceful features e.g non rusting ability, non hazardousness, anti-sparking and non magnetic ability enables it to be used in electrical applications.The distinctive thermal and electrical conductivity of aluminum is helpful to work with the appliances which require thermal indulgence for an effective working.
Aluminum has another tendency of corrosion. What is corrosion? Corrosion is a process in which aluminum exposed to air and construct a layer due to oxide on it immediately.This layer is corrosion resistant and helps to prevent the decaying process and further enhanced the surface treatments like anodizing.
Use of Aluminum in Electronics:
As the aluminum is a best conductor of electricity.It is widely used in electronic applications such as overhead electric cables, household electric appliances and in many electronic products of daily use for example the manufacturers use aluminum connectors in iPhone cables and Aux cables for a smooth and uninterrupted electricity flow.
“Interesting Facts about Aluminum
- Aluminum manufacturing takes a lot of energy – 17.4 megawatt hours of electrical energy to produce one metric ton of aluminum; that’s three times more energy than is needed to make a metric ton of steel. (5)
- Aluminum is a great metal to recycle. Recycling uses only 5% of the energy needed to produce aluminum from its ore, bauxite. (6)
- Aluminum does not stick to magnets under normal conditions.
- There is more aluminum in the Earth’s crust than any other metal. At about 8 percent, aluminum is the third most abundant element in our planet’s crust, behind oxygen and silicon.
- Despite its high abundance, in the 1850s aluminum was more valuable than gold. In 1852 aluminum was priced at $1200 per kg and gold was $664 per kg.
- Aluminum prices illustrate the perils of financial speculation: in 1854 Saint-Claire Deville found a way of replacing potassium with much cheaper sodium in the reaction to isolate aluminum. By 1859, aluminum was priced at $37 per kg; its price had dropped 97% in just five years.
- Where the previous item highlights the perils of speculation, this item highlights one of the triumphs of chemistry: the Hall-Heroult electrolytic process was discovered in 1886. By 1895, aluminum’s price had dropped to just $1.20 per kg.
- Ruby gemstones are mainly aluminum oxide in which a small number of the aluminum ions have been replaced by chromium ions.
- Aluminum is made in the nuclear fires of heavy stars when a proton adds to magnesium. (Magnesium is itself made in stars by nuclear fusion of two carbons)
Aluminum is the most abundant metal in our planet’s crust. Only oxygen and silicon are more abundant in the crust. Image by USGS.
The aluminum collector from the Genesis spacecraft. The aluminum accumulated fast moving noble gas species from the solar wind; these species impacted and stuck within the metal. The spacecraft returned to Earth and the noble gases were analyzed to learn about the origins of the Solar System. “