Aluminium
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| General Properties | |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 13 |
| Atomic mass | 26.982amu |
| Atomic radius | 118pm |
| Electron Configuration | [Ne] 3s2 3p1 |
| Density | 2.710g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 660.32°C |
| Boiling point | 2470°C |
| First discovered/ developed | 1825 |
| Most common compound on Earth | Al2O3 (Aluminium Oxide) |
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Description and uses
Aluminium is the 13th element in the periodic table. It occurs in ores such as bauxite due to its high reactivity. Its reactivity means that it quickly forms a rust, but then
does not react further. Discovered by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1825 by reducing AlCl3 with a potassium-mercury compound, it has become one of the most used metals. Its name comes from one of its common compounds:
alum.
Aluminium is cheap, lightweight and its oxide (rust) is very strong too, making it an extremely important element in vehicle production. This is because it allows
vehicles to use less fuel than if they were made with iron, and it lasts a long time too.
Another important characteristic of aluminium is that it is easily and infinitely recyclable. In fact, it is easier and cheaper to recycle the metal than to
produce it from scratch, since recycling only requires melting it down compared with having to extract it from bauxite, then refine it twice.
Aluminium has 1 natural isotope and 1 isotope that has a very long half-life- 26Al and 27Al. 27Al takes up all the naturally
occurring aluminium molecules, whereas 26Al is unstable and has a half-life of around 717,000 years. This isotope is mainly used to find the age of
meteorites due to its long half-life.