Date
23rd Dec, 2009
Author
Lenntech
Aluminum
The name aluminum is derived from the ancient name for alum (potassium aluminum sulphate), which was alumen (Latin, meaning bitter salt). Aluminum was the original name given to the element by Humphry Davy but others called it aluminum and that became the accepted name in Europe. However, in the USA the preferred name was aluminum and when the American Chemical Society debated on the issue, in 1925, it decided to stick with aluminum.
Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal. It has a dull silvery appearance, because of a thin layer of oxidation that forms quickly when it is exposed to air. Aluminum is nontoxic (as the metal) nonmagnetic and non-sparking.
Aluminum has only one naturally occurring isotope, aluminium-27, which is not radioactive.
With thanks to Lenntech
With thanks to Lenntech
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Date Uploaded: 23rd Dec, 2009