the.com/aluminum
the metal once worth more than gold, now wrapped around your leftovers.
means A lightweight, silvery-white metal (chemical symbol Al) prized for being abundant, corrosion-resistant, and easy to shape into everything from foil to aircraft.
from Coined by the English chemist Humphry Davy in the early 19th century from 'alumina,' the name for the metal's oxide, which itself traces back to Latin 'alumen' — the bitter, astringent 'alum' used by tanners and dyers. Davy first floated 'alumium,' then settled on 'aluminum,' but British chemists soon nudged it to 'aluminium' to match the tidy -ium pattern of sodium and potassium. America kept Davy's shorter spelling, and the two forms have been quietly arguing across the Atlantic ever since.
- royal flex
- Napoleon III served VIPs on aluminum, lesser guests got gold
- recycle king
- 75% of all aluminum ever made still circulates
- abundant
- most common metal in Earth's crust
- naming feud
- US and UK still spell it differently out of spite
- capstone
- Washington Monument's tip was once precious aluminum
aluminum can — 330 billion cans produced annually, first mass-produced beverage container since 1959
burj khalifa — dubai skyscraper using 330,000 tons of aluminum in its frame, completed 2010
boeing 747 — aircraft structure composed of 63% aluminum by weight, revolutionized air travel since 1969
power transmission lines — aluminum-based cables carry 40% of world's electrical power distribution