Aluminum - General Properties, Where Aluminum Comes From, How Aluminum Is Obtained, Uses, Chemistry And Compounds

Aluminum - General Properties

Aluminum - Where Aluminum Comes From

Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust, after only oxygen and silicon, and it is the most abundant of all metals. It constitutes 8.1% of the crust by weight and 6.3% of all the atoms in the crust. Because it is a very active metal, aluminum is never found in the metallic form, but only in a wide variety of earthy and rocky minerals, including feldspar, mica, granit…

Aluminum - How Aluminum Is Obtained

In the production of aluminum today by the Hall-Héroult process, the aluminum oxide is dissolved in a molten mixture of sodium, calcium, and aluminum fluorides, which melts at a lower temperature than cryolite. The aluminum oxide is in the form of bauxite, a white, brown, or red earthy clay; it was first found near Les Baux, France, in 1821 by P. Berthier, and is now the main source of all …

Aluminum - Uses

In spite of the fact that aluminum is very active chemically, it does not corrode in moist air the way iron does. Instead, it quickly forms a thin, hard coating of aluminum oxide. Unlike iron oxide or rust, which flakes off, the aluminum oxide sticks tightly to the metal and protects it from further oxidation. The oxide coating is so thin that it is transparent, so the aluminum retains its silvery…

Aluminum - Chemistry And Compounds

Aluminum is an unusual metal in that it reacts not only with acids, but with bases as well. Like many active metals, aluminum dissolves in strong acids to evolve hydrogen gas and form salts. In fact, cooking even weakly acidic foods such as tomatoes in an aluminum pot can dissolve enough aluminum to give the dish a "metallic" taste. But aluminum also dissolves in strong bases such as…