Aluminum

Aluminum, uh LOO muh nuhm, is a lightweight, silver-colored metal that can be formed into almost any shape. It can be rolled into thick plates for armored tanks or into thin foil for chewing gum wrappers. It may be drawn into wire or made into cans. Aluminum does not rust, and it resists wear from weather and chemicals. Aluminum is called aluminium (al yuh MIHN ee uhm) in English-speaking countries outside North America.

Pure aluminum is soft and has little strength. For this reason, aluminum producers almost always alloy (mix) it with small amounts of copper, magnesium, zinc, and other elements to form aluminum alloys. The added elements give aluminum strength and other properties that make it one of the most useful metals. The world uses more aluminum than any other metal except iron and steel.

The largest share of aluminum alloy production goes to the packaging industry for use in such items as beverage cans, bottle caps, foil pouches, foil wrappers, and food containers. The construction industry uses aluminum alloys in such items as gutters, panels, residential siding, roofing, tubes for electric wires, and window frames. Manufacturers of transportation equipment use huge amounts of aluminum in airplanes, automobiles, boats, railroad cars, and trucks. Aluminum is used in much electrical equipment, including light bulbs, power lines, and telephone wires. Thousands of other products also contain aluminum. These products include air conditioners, cookware, golf clubs, knitting needles, lawn furniture, license plates, paints, refrigerators, rocket fuel, and zippers.

Aluminum is the most plentiful metallic element in Earth's crust and the third most common of all the elements, after oxygen and silicon. Aluminum makes up about 8 percent of Earth's crust. But unlike some other metals, such as gold and silver, aluminum metal never occurs free (uncombined) in nature. It is always chemically combined with other elements in minerals. People had no way of separating aluminum from these elements until the 1800's. Scientists then developed processes for separating the minerals and producing aluminum. These processes have been used to make aluminum ever since.

See Element, Chemical.