Here's the scoop on 'aluminum':
Properties of Aluminum (from the wikipedia)
Aluminium(
Al) (or
aluminum in
North American English; see
spelling below) is a silvery and ductile member of the
poor metal group of
chemical elements. Its
atomic number is 13. Aluminium is found primarily as the ore
bauxite and is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation (due to the phenomenon of
passivation), its strength, and its light weight. Aluminium is used in many industries to make millions of different products and is very important to the
world economy. Structural components made from aluminium are vital to the
aerospace industry and very important in other areas of
transportation and building in which light weight, durability, and strength are needed.Aluminium is a soft, lightweight
metal with normally a dull silvery appearance caused by a thin layer of
oxidation that forms quickly when the metal is exposed to air. Aluminium oxide has a higher
melting point than pure aluminium. Aluminium is nontoxic (as the metal), nonmagnetic, and nonsparking. It has a tensile strength of about 49 megapascals (MPa) in a pure state and 400 MPa as an alloy. Aluminium is about one-third as dense as
steel or
copper; it is
malleable,
ductile, and easily machined and cast. It has excellent
corrosion resistance and durability because of the protective oxide layer.
Aluminium is one of the few metals which retains full silvery reflectance, even in finely powdered form, which makes it a very important component of silver paints.
Aluminium's crystal stracture is an FCC stracture, Hence the high ductility of the pure metal.
Aluminium mirror finish has the highest reflectance of any metal in the 200–400 nm (UV) and the 3000–10000 nm (far IR) regions, while in the 400–700 nm visible range it is slightly outdone by
silver and in the 700–3000 (near IR) by
silver,
gold, and
copper. It is the second-most malleable metal (after
gold) and the sixth-most
ductile. Aluminium is a good
thermal and
electrical conductor. Aluminium is capable of being a
superconductor, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2
Kelvin.
The person below me now loves aluminum more than ever!