Aluminum, aluminum, comes from alumen, meaning "alum". It has been less than 200 years since aluminum was discovered, but it can be found everywhere from small toothpaste tubes to huge airplanes, which shows that aluminum is widely used. Why?
There is a reason why aluminum is so prominent in its applications that it is second only to steel as the second largest metal class.
1. Aluminum is rich in content
First, aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust, after oxygen and silicon. As far as metals are involved, it is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, providing a sufficient source for large-scale extraction and widespread use of aluminum.
2. Aluminum metal has excellent characteristics
In terms of physical properties:
(1) The density of aluminum is very small, only 2.7 g/cm3. Although it is relatively soft, but can be made into a variety of aluminum, such as hard aluminum, super hard aluminum, rust aluminum, cast aluminum and so on. Aluminum alloy is strong but still light. It is widely used in aircraft, automobiles, trains, ships and other manufacturing industries, such as a large passenger ship, which often uses thousands of tons of aluminum. In addition, space rockets, space shuttles, satellites and so on are also a large number of aluminum and its alloy. For example, aluminum and its alloys make up about 70 percent of the components on a supersonic aircraft.
(2) The conductivity of aluminum is second only to silver and copper. Although aluminum is only two-thirds as conductive as copper, it is only one-third as dense, so it has only half the mass of copper wire to deliver the same amount of electricity. In addition, aluminum surface alumina film not only has corrosion resistance, but also has a certain insulation, so aluminum in electrical manufacturing industry, wire, cable industry and radio industry has a wide range of uses.
(3) Aluminum is a good conductor of heat. The thermal conductivity of aluminum metal is 3 times greater than that of iron. Aluminum metal is commonly used in industry to manufacture various heat exchangers, heat dissipation materials and cooking utensils.
(4) Aluminum has good ductility. The ductility of aluminum is second only to gold and silver. Aluminum can be drawn into filaments or rolled into aluminum foil. At 100℃~150℃, aluminum foil thinner than 0.01 mm can be made. Various kinds of aluminum foil are widely used to pack cigarettes, candy and so on. In addition, metal aluminum can also be made into aluminum wire, aluminum strip, and can be rolled all kinds of aluminum products.
(5) Aluminum powder has silver white luster (general metal powder is mostly black). Using this property, aluminum powder is commonly used to make coatings. This coating commonly known as silver powder, silver paint, used to protect iron products, so that it is not corroded and very beautiful.
(6) Aluminum plate has strong light reflection performance, its reflection of ultraviolet light performance is stronger than silver. The purer aluminum is, the better it reflects, so aluminum is commonly used to make high-quality mirrors, such as solar oven mirrors.
(7) Aluminum can enhance the sound effect, so the ceiling of the broadcasting room and modern large buildings are often made of aluminum parts.
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