Aluminum is an abundant metallic chemical element which is widely used throughout the world for a wide range of products. Many consumers interact with some form of aluminum on a daily basis, especially if they are active in the kitchen. The element has an atomic number of 13, and it is identified with the symbol Al on the periodic table of elements. It is classified in the poor metals, sharing the property of extreme malleability with metals like tin and lead.
Although aluminium is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust (believed to be 7.5 to 8.1 percent), it is rare in its free form, occurring in oxygen-deficient environments such as volcanic mud,, and it was once considered a precious metal more valuable than gold. Napoleon III, emperor of France, is reputed to have given a banquet where the most honoured guests were given aluminium utensils, while the other guests had to make do with gold.The Washington Monument was completed, with the 100 ounce (2.8 kg) aluminium capstone being put in place on December 6, 1884, in an elaborate dedication ceremony. It was the largest single piece of aluminium cast at the time. At that time, aluminium was more expensive than silver, gold, or platinum. Aluminium has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years.
Aluminium is remarkable for its ability to resist corrosion (due to the phenomenon of passivisation) and its low density. Structural components made from aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and very important in other areas of transportation and building. Its reactive nature makes it useful as a catalyst or additive in chemical mixtures, including being used in ammonium nitrate explosives to enhance blast power.
The metal derives its name from alumen, the Latin name for alum. In 1761 L. B. G de Morveau proposed the name alumine for the base in alum, and in 1787 Lavoisier definitely identified it as the oxide of a still undiscovered metal. In 1807 Sir Humprey Davy proposed the name aluminumaluminum. Shortly thereafter, the name aluminium was adopted to conform to the "ium" ending of most elements, and this spelling is now in general use throughout the world. Aluminum was also the accepted spelling in the United States until 1925 when the American Chemical Society officially reverted to aluminum. for this metal and later agreed to change it to
Hans Christian Oersted
Hans Christian Oersted is now generally credited with having been the first to prepare metallic aluminum. He accomplished this in 1825 by heating anhydrous aluminum chloride with potassium amalgam and distilling off the mercury. Frederick Wöhler improved the process between 1827 and 1845 by substituting potassium for the amalgam and by developing a better method for dehydrating aluminum. In 1854 Henri Sainte-Claire Deville substituted sodium for the relatively expensive potassium and, by using sodium aluminum chloride instead of aluminum chloride, produced the first commercial quantities of aluminum in a pilot plant near Paris. Several plants using essentially this process were subsequently built in Great Britain, but none survived for long the advent in 1886 of the electrolytic process, which has dominated the industry ever since.
Although aluminium is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust (believed to be 7.5 to 8.1 percent), it is rare in its free form, occurring in oxygen-deficient environments such as volcanic mud,, and it was once considered a precious metal more valuable than gold. Napoleon III, emperor of France, is reputed to have given a banquet where the most honoured guests were given aluminium utensils, while the other guests had to make do with gold.The Washington Monument was completed, with the 100 ounce (2.8 kg) aluminium capstone being put in place on December 6, 1884, in an elaborate dedication ceremony. It was the largest single piece of aluminium cast at the time. At that time, aluminium was more expensive than silver, gold, or platinum. Aluminium has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years.
Aluminium is remarkable for its ability to resist corrosion (due to the phenomenon of passivisation) and its low density. Structural components made from aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and very important in other areas of transportation and building. Its reactive nature makes it useful as a catalyst or additive in chemical mixtures, including being used in ammonium nitrate explosives to enhance blast power.
The metal derives its name from alumen, the Latin name for alum. In 1761 L. B. G de Morveau proposed the name alumine for the base in alum, and in 1787 Lavoisier definitely identified it as the oxide of a still undiscovered metal. In 1807 Sir Humprey Davy proposed the name aluminumaluminum. Shortly thereafter, the name aluminium was adopted to conform to the "ium" ending of most elements, and this spelling is now in general use throughout the world. Aluminum was also the accepted spelling in the United States until 1925 when the American Chemical Society officially reverted to aluminum. for this metal and later agreed to change it to
Hans Christian Oersted
Hans Christian Oersted is now generally credited with having been the first to prepare metallic aluminum. He accomplished this in 1825 by heating anhydrous aluminum chloride with potassium amalgam and distilling off the mercury. Frederick Wöhler improved the process between 1827 and 1845 by substituting potassium for the amalgam and by developing a better method for dehydrating aluminum. In 1854 Henri Sainte-Claire Deville substituted sodium for the relatively expensive potassium and, by using sodium aluminum chloride instead of aluminum chloride, produced the first commercial quantities of aluminum in a pilot plant near Paris. Several plants using essentially this process were subsequently built in Great Britain, but none survived for long the advent in 1886 of the electrolytic process, which has dominated the industry ever since.In 1866, Charles Martin Hall of Oberlin (Ohio) and Paul L.T.Héroult of France, both of them 22 years old at the time, discovered and patented almost simultaneously the process in which alumina is dissolved in molten crysolite and decomposed electrolytically. This reduction process, generally known as the Hall-Héroult process, has successfully withstood many attempts to supplant it. It remains the only method to produce aluminum in commercial quantities.
We live like Napoleon III now, who don't use aluminium in their kitchen ?
ReplyDeleteThere'll be always a way to solve something, don't give up. Remember, failure is the best teacher.