1. CHEM 120
Element Project
11/12/11
Brittany Jones
Aluminum

2. Aluminum History
Meaning – derived from the ancient name for alum
(potassium aluminum sulphate), which was alumen
(Latin, meaning bitter salt)
silver-white metallic element, light in
weight, ductile, malleable, and not readily corroded or
tarnished: used in alloys and for lightweight products.
Hans Christian Oersted a Danish physicist and
chemist discovered this element in
Copenhagen Denmark in 1825

3. Properties of Aluminum
Atomic Number: 13
Atomic Weight: 26.9815
Melting Point: 933.437 K (660.323 C)
Boiling Point: 2740.15 K (2467 C)
Density: 2.70 grams per cubic centimeter
State at Room Temperature: Solid

4. Properties of Aluminum cont.
Element Classification: Metal
Period Number: 3
Group Number: 13
Group Name: none
Color: Silver
Major Isotopes: Al-26
Al-27 and Al-28

5. Aluminum Availability
Aluminum is not found free anywhere in nature
in its purest form.
Aluminum makes up about 8% of the earths
crust, making it the most abundant metal found
in the earths crust.
Aluminum can be found in many minerals such
as feldspars, granite, cryolite, and bauxite
An interesting fact is that aluminum can be
produced from clay, but like our lab, this is not
economical at this time

6. Aluminum Availability cont.
In 1886 two scientists, one in France and one in
America, discovered how to get aluminum from
a process called electrolysis of cryolite (about)
This is one way to get aluminum from other
materials. However today most scientists don’t
use cryolite but they use a fake mixture of
sodium, aluminum and calcium fluorides
Aluminum costs approximately one dollar, at it’s
highest, a pound according
to the local scrap yard.

7. Aluminum Uses
Common uses of Aluminum are aluminum
foil, aluminum soda cans and food
cans, bottle caps, car parts, electrical
wiring, pie pans, cooking utensils, roofing
and siding for barns and outdoor
buildings, it is used in many electronic and
electrical devices, water
purification, paint, road signs, window
frames, doorknobs, railings, c
urtain rods, golf
clubs, ladders, horse bits and
bridles, fencing, and the list goes

8. Common Compounds of Aluminum
Aluminum chloride- antiperspirant or deodorants
Sodium aluminum fluoride- or better known as
cryolite, mentioned earlier in this Power
Point, which can be used to process aluminum
but it is very rare
Aluminum hydroxide is commonly used in
antacids and it can also reduce phosphate levels
in patients with kidney problems
Aluminum potassium sulfate is used in baking
powder and some medicines

9. Fun Facts
Every minute of every day, an average of more than 123,000
aluminum cans are recycled.
Since 1972, an estimated 660-plus billion beverage cans have been
recycled. This many cans could circle the world nearly 300 times.
American consumers and industry throw away enough aluminum to
rebuild the entire U.S. commercial air fleet every three months.
Aluminum made up 1.5 percent of the total municipal solid waste
stream in the United States in 1994
Rubies, emeralds and sapphires consist mainly of crystalline
aluminum oxide.
Manufacturers used Cold War technology to make Little League
bats from aluminum.
All of these fun facts are from
http://acswebcontent.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/al/facts.html

10. Sources
http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/al.html
http://chemistry.about.com/od/elementfacts/a/aluminum.htm
http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/Al-compounds.html
http://www.drugs.com/cdi/aluminum-chloride-solution.html
http://www.galleries.com/Cryolite
http://www.drugs.com/mtm/aluminum-hydroxide.html
http://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/13.html
http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/Al-compounds.html
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/al.htm
http://sam.davyson.com/as/physics/aluminium/siteus/uses.html
http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele013.html
http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/Al.html
http://www.definitions.net/definition/aluminum