Aluminum, symbol Al, the most abundant metallic element in the earth's crust. The atomic number of aluminum is 13; the element is in group 13 (IIIa) of the periodic table.

Hans Christian Orstead, Danish chemist, first isolated aluminum in 1825, using a chemical process involving potassium amalgam. Between 1827 and 1845, Friedrich Wöhler, a German chemist, improved Oersted's process by using metallic potassium. He was the first to measure the specific gravity of aluminum and show its lightness. In 1854 Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, in France, obtained the metal by reducing aluminum chloride with sodium. Aided by the financial backing of Napoleon III, Deville established a large-scale experimental plant and displayed pure aluminum at the Paris Exposition of 1855.

Aluminum is a lightweight, silvery metal. The atomic weight of aluminum is 26.9815; the element melts at 660° C (1220° F), boils at 2467° C (4473° F), and has a specific gravity of 2.7. Aluminum is a strongly......

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Title: An Essay On Aluminum
Approximate Word Count: 1228
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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