Density of Aluminum

Aluminum is the 13th element in the periodic table, and it is a silvery-white metal. One surprising fact about aluminum is that it is the most common metal on the planet, contributing to more than 8% of the planet's core mass. After oxygen and silicon, it's the third most common chemical element on the earth.

Aluminum is a silvery-white metal that is overall a metal but does not have all properties. In this article, we will study the concept of aluminum, aluminum properties, density of aluminum, etc….

Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted (14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who lived from 1777 to 1851. Hans Christian Ørsted developed aluminum metal in 1825. He made a lump of metal that looked like tin by reacting anhydrous aluminum chloride with potassium amalgam.

In 1825, he reported his findings and displayed a sample of the new metal. "Aluminum has a metallic shine and somewhat grayish tint, and breaks down water very slowly," he wrote in 1826, implying that he had acquired an aluminum–potassium alloy rather than pure aluminum.

What is Density?

Any material has many physical and chemical properties. Density is one of these properties. Density is a physical property. Density tells about mass in unit volume. Density in simple words is a measure of material that lies in a unit volume of any substance.

What is Density of Aluminum?

Because of its many versatile and desirable characteristics, aluminum is one of the most used industrial materials. Its density is one of these features. Aluminum is a lightweight substance with a density that is one-third that of steel. Aluminum has a high strength-to-weight ratio, which means that despite its light weight, metal has a lot of strength. These features result in a material that is simple to work with while also being durable and resistant to a wide range of industrial applications.

Because of its lightness and flexibility, aluminum is favored by a wide range of industries, from aerospace to automotive to recreational goods. It has a lower density than other metals.

The density of aluminum is defined as the ratio of the mass of aluminum to the volume of aluminum. To find out the density of aluminum we can take a cube of aluminum which has a side equal to 1 meter. After taking this we can measure the weight of the material with a weighing machine. The value which we will get from this weighing machine is the density of aluminum per cubic meter.

Pure aluminum has a density of 2,699 kg/m3 in solid form (theoretical density based on lattice spacing) and 2,697-2,699 kg/m3 in liquid form (polycrystalline material). Pure aluminum has a liquid density of 2,357 kg/m3 at 973K and 2,304 kg/m3 at 1173K.

Density of Aluminum In MKS

In MKS Standard, value for density of aluminum is 2700 kg/m3.

Density of Aluminum In CGS

In CGS Standard, value for density of aluminum is 2.7 g/cm3.

Properties of Aluminum

Aluminum is the most common metal which is found in the crust of the earth. It is easily available and also cheap due to easy availability. There are some properties of aluminum that we are going to discuss. We can divide the properties of aluminum into two parts. The first one is the physical properties and the second one is chemical properties.

The Physical properties of aluminum are-

• Aluminum is the most common metal on earth and is found in solid-state.

• Aluminum is a silvery-white metal.

• Aluminum has a face-centered cubic structure that is stable up to the melting point.

• Aluminum surfaces can be highly reflective.

• Aluminum in its pure form is soft metal but for its uses on an industrial scale, its alloys are tempered to make it hard according to the standard.

• Aluminum is very ductile and highly malleable.

• Aluminum’s thermal expansion coefficient is 23.2. It is less than zinc and more than steel.

• Aluminum is a good conductor of heat and electricity.

• Aluminum is corrosion resistant due to its self-protecting oxide layers.

• Aluminum has a melting point equal to 1220°F and a boiling point of 4,478°F.

The chemical properties of aluminum are-

• Aluminum occurs as a compound and is mainly found in bauxite ore.

• Aluminum reacts with oxygen and forms aluminum oxide when exposed to moist air.

• When aluminum is in a powdered form it catches fire easily when exposed to flame.

• Aluminum quickly reacts with hot water.

• Aluminum easily reacts with sodium hydroxide.

• Aluminum also reacts with hot acids.

General Uses of Aluminum

There are many aluminum examples that are used for many general purposes. The non-ferrous metal aluminum is the most extensively utilized. Almost all aluminum is alloyed, which increases its mechanical qualities significantly, especially when tempered. Aluminum foils and beverage cans, for example, are alloys of 92 percent to 99 percent aluminum. The following are just a few of the various applications for aluminum metal:

• Aluminum is used in transportation as sheets, tubes, and casting.

• Aluminum is used in packaging like cans, foil etc.

• Aluminum is used in construction as doors and windows.

• Aluminum is used in a wide range of household items, from cooking utensils to baseball bats, and watches.

• Aluminum is used in street lighting poles, sailing ship masts, walking poles, etc.

• Aluminum is used in the outer shells of consumer electronics, also cases for equipment (e.g. photographic equipment).

• Aluminum is used in electrical transmission lines for power ditribution.

• Aluminum is used in super purity aluminum, used in electronics and CDs.

• Aluminum is used in heat sinks for electronic appliances, such as transistors and CPUs.

• Aluminum is used in the substrate material of metal-core copper clad laminates used in high brightness LED lighting.

• Aluminum is used in powdered aluminum used in paint and in pyrotechnics.

• Aluminum is used in a variety of countries, including France, Italy, Poland, Finland, Romania, Israel, and the former Yugoslavia, which have issued coins struck in aluminum or aluminum-copper alloys.

Interesting Facts - Alloys of Aluminum

Aluminum is very soft in its pure form and it makes aluminum hard to use in many applications where hardness is an important factor. For example, if we want to use aluminum in a body of a container then we need some hardness in the material to strengthen the container. For this, we mix aluminum with other metals and it helps us to achieve the required standard for a particular use case. Here we are listing some examples of alloys that are used in various applications.

• Al-Li (lithium, sometimes mercury)

• Alnico (aluminum, nickel, copper)

• Birmabright (aluminum, magnesium)

• Duralumin (copper, aluminum)

• Hindalium (aluminum, magnesium, manganese, silicon)

• Magnalium (5% magnesium)

• Magnox (magnesium oxide, aluminum)

• Nambe (aluminum plus seven other unspecified metals)

• Silumin (aluminum, silicon)

• Titanal (aluminum, zinc, magnesium, copper, zirconium)

• Zamak (zinc, aluminum, magnesium, copper)

• Aluminum forms other complex alloys with magnesium, manganese, and platinum.

Conclusion

In this article we learned a few important things about aluminum metal, along with its history, density and properties. We also learned that aluminum as a metal stands on the top list for industrial purposes.