24 Facts About Aluminium

1.

Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel.

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2.

Aluminium visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light.

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3.

Aluminium became much more available to the public with the Hall–Heroult process developed independently by French engineer Paul Heroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall in 1886, and the mass production of aluminium led to its extensive use in industry and everyday life.

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4.

Aluminium metal has an appearance ranging from silvery white to dull gray, depending on the surface roughness.

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5.

Aluminium mirrors are the most reflective of all metal mirrors for the near ultraviolet and far infrared light, and one of the most reflective in the visible spectrum, nearly on par with silver, and the two therefore look similar.

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6.

Aluminium is not as strong or stiff as steel, but the low density makes up for this in the aerospace industry and for many other applications where light weight and relatively high strength are crucial.

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7.

Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.

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8.

Aluminium has a high chemical affinity to oxygen, which renders it suitable for use as a reducing agent in the thermite reaction.

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9.

Aluminium is not attacked by oxidizing acids because of its passivation.

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10.

Aluminium is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, which is why household plumbing is never made from aluminium.

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11.

Aluminium trichloride has a layered polymeric structure below its melting point of 192.

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12.

Aluminium trichloride has major industrial uses involving this reaction, such as in the manufacture of anthraquinones and styrene; it is often used as the precursor for many other aluminium compounds and as a reagent for converting nonmetal fluorides into the corresponding chlorides .

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13.

Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth's crust than in the Universe at large, because aluminium easily forms the oxide and becomes bound into rocks and stays in the Earth's crust, while less reactive metals sink to the core.

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14.

Aluminium occurs in the minerals beryl, cryolite, garnet, spinel, and turquoise.

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15.

Aluminium reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam, yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin.

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16.

Aluminium presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825.

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17.

Aluminium production is highly energy-consuming, and so the producers tend to locate smelters in places where electric power is both plentiful and inexpensive.

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18.

Aluminium is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when tempered.

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19.

Aluminium sulfate is produced on the annual scale of several millions of metric tons.

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20.

Aluminium hydroxychlorides are used in purifying water, in the paper industry, and as antiperspirants.

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21.

Aluminium is classified as a non-carcinogen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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22.

Aluminium has been suspected of being a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease, but research into this for over 40 years has found, as of 2018, no good evidence of causal effect.

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23.

Aluminium is primary among the factors that reduce plant growth on acidic soils.

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24.

Aluminium production possesses its own challenges to the environment on each step of the production process.

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