Kitchen foil, packaging foil, cans and containers (worldwide, four out of every five drink cans are made of aluminium) as aluminium can be rolled into very thin sheets and is non-toxic.
Heating and cooling systems as aluminium is a good conductor of heat. due to its strength, malleability and rust resistance. Parts for cars, trucks, buses, aircraft, ships, rail and trams as aluminium is strong, light, easily shaped and resistant to rust.įridges, washing machines, lawn mowers etc. Some of the uses are listed in the table below.Ĭladding, doors, window frames, awnings and bridge rails as aluminium is strong, light, easily shaped and resistant to rust. Aluminium itself has a wide range of uses from specialist aircraft construction to everyday items like knives and forks. It is often alloyed with copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese or silicon and the addition of small amounts of zirconium, hafnium or scandium to these alloys markedly improves their strength. We call these crystals rubies and sapphires.Īfter iron and steel, aluminium is the most widely used metal on Earth. Sometimes, corundum crystals are contaminated with trace amounts of chromium, iron, titanium, copper or magnesium. It is also used in the production of spark plug insulators, as a fuel component for solid rocket boosters, a filler for plastics, an abrasive (it is cheaper than industrial diamond) and in metal refineries where it is used to convert toxic hydrogen sulfide waste gases into elemental sulfur.Īlumina that occurs in a natural, crystalline state is referred to as the mineral corundum. It is used in glass, porcelain and in metallic paints, such as those sprayed on cars. More than 90% of the world's bauxite production is used to make alumina with most of the remaining 10% used by the abrasive, refractory and chemical industries. Bauxite is also used in the production of high-alumina cement, as an absorbent or catalyst by the oil industry, in welding rod coatings and as a flux in making steel and ferroalloys.Īlumina's primary use is as feedstock for aluminium smelters, however it is also used for other industrial purposes. All three products have a number of uses. Source: Wikimedia CommonsĪluminium is smelted from alumina which is refined from bauxite ore. However, pure aluminium reacts very quickly with air or water to form a thin, almost invisible layer of aluminium oxide on its surface, which then acts as a protective coating preventing any further 'rusting'.Īl - from the Roman word Alumen - the word for the aluminium-potassium compound alumĪluminium-bodied Austin "A40 Sports" (c. As aluminium is such a reactive metal, you might think it would rust badly and therefore be useless. These properties have made it an important metal in the modern world. Aluminium is inflammable, non-magnetic and non-sparking.
Aluminium can be alloyed with almost any other metal. It is also is highly rust-resistant, and is non-toxic. Aluminium is a very good heat and electrical conductor. Aluminium is both malleable (can be pressed into shape) and ductile (can be beaten and drawn into a wire). It is very light (about one third the weight of copper) yet strong some alloys are even stronger than steel. PropertiesĪluminium is a silvery-coloured metal that is never found on its own in nature. Large amounts of electricity are used to smelt the alumina into aluminium metal. First the aluminium ore needs to be mined, then the bauxite is refined into alumina (aluminium oxide).
Symbol of aluminium how to#
So while humans knew about aluminium compounds, they only discovered how to extract aluminium metal in the late 1800s.Īluminium can be extracted (uneconomically) from some clays but the most common aluminium ore is a material called bauxite. This is because aluminum is never found in its pure state in nature. Unlike metals such as copper, gold, lead, iron and zinc which have been used by humans for thousands of years, aluminium has only been in common use for a little over 100 years. Metals alloyed with aluminium are all very strong yet lightweight, and resistant to rusting.Īfter oxygen and silicon, aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust (8.2%) and by far the most plentiful metal. It can be alloyed (mixed) with almost any other metal to create materials with useful properties. Aluminium is one of the most useful materials known to man. Source: Wikimedia CommonsĪluminium is all around you-from everyday items such as a soft drink can to the aircraft flying overhead.
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