Aluminum
AluminumAluminum is a very common metal, still used widely today. It was first discovered by Hans Christian Oersted at Denmark in 1825. Oersted reacted aluminum chloride with potassium amalgam. Heating these two substances under reduced pressure caused the mercury to boil away, leaving aluminum metal as the final solution.
Ancient Greeks and Romans used it as an astringent for medicine and also for the dying process. Aluminum went through many different name changes. In 1761, a man named de Morveau proposed the name alumine. In 1807, Davy offered the name alumium for the metal, not known at that time, and later agreed to change it to aluminium. Aluminium is now the accepted standard for spelling it. It was also the standard for spelling it that way in the United States until 1925, at which the American Chemical Society decided to switch back to aluminum. Americans today still refer to it and spell it this way.
Aluminum has many different uses. For example, it is used in cans, foil, kitchen utensils, outside building decoration, and industrial applications. Aluminium, evaporated in a vacuum, forms a highly reflective coating for both visible light and radiant heat. These coatings soon form a thin layer of the protective oxide and do not deteriorate as do silver coatings. These coatings are used for telescope mirrors, decorative paper, packages, toys, and in many other uses.