Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, non-magnetic and ductile metal in the boron group. By mass, aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust and the third most abundant element, after oxygen and silicon.
The history of aluminium has been shaped by usage of alum. The first written record of alum, made by Greek historian Herodotus, dates back to the 5th century BCE. After the Crusades, alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry, was a subject of international commerce. Attempts to produce aluminium metal date back to 1760. The first successful attempt, however, was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Orsted.
Aluminium is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when tempered. For example, the common aluminium foils and beverage cans are alloys of 92% to 99% aluminium. The major transportation uses for aluminium metal are in automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railway cars, marine vessels, bicycles, spacecraft, etc. Aluminium is used because of its low density.  |
