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The Beauty of Aluminum |
Features & benefits |
History |
Technical tidbits |
Informational Links |
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| The Beauty of Aluminum |
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Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element on the planet. Too reactive to occur naturally, it is an element found within over 270 different minerals.
The chief ore of aluminum is bauxite, a mixture of hydrated aluminum oxide and hydrated iron oxide. Once converted into its metallic state, aluminum is like no other material on earth.
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| Features & benefits |
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Light Weight
Corrosion Resistant
Strong
Excellent Conductivity
Excellent Reflectivity
Non-Magnetic
100% “Green” – Environmentally Friendly
Excellent Cryogenic Properties
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| The History of Aluminum |
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Aluminum starts out as dirt. (Actually, bauxite ore, but to the untrained eye – it’s just dirt.) This bauxite ore, when refined, produces alumina – a powdery oxide of aluminum. The alumina then goes through a smelter and aluminum is born.
The age of aluminum dawned in the late 1800’s when large volume smelters were born. Prior to that, we know that Persian potters made many of their wares from clay containing an aluminum oxide. Centuries later the Egyptians and Babylonians used other aluminum compounds in their fabric dyes, cosmetics and medicines.
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| Technial tidbits |
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Symbol = Al
Atomic Number = 13
Atomic Weight = 26.9815
Melting Point = 660.37 C
Boiling Point = 2,467 C
Valence = +3 |
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Information Sources
& Links |
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For more information about aluminum, log on to the sites below:
www.alcoa.com
www.aluminum.org
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