Aluminium Formula

Aluminium Formula

Aluminium is a chemical element with the chemical formula Al. It is also a post-transition metal in the boron group. The discovery of aluminium was founded in the year 1825. French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville founded it. 

About the Topic

Aluminium is a combination of pre-and post-transition metals. It contains some metallic bonding and has the physical properties of a post-transition metal, with longer-than-expected interatomic distances. 

Aluminium contains high levels of oxygen.

Aluminium reacts with oxygen liquid. Aluminium does not directly attack oxidizing acids because it has passivation. Because of this, aluminium can be used as stored reagents such as nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, and some organic acids.

Production of aluminium starts with the extraction of bauxite. Bauxite is a process of transforming bauxite by the Bayer process into alumina.

The bauxite process starts with uniform composition and then is ground. When it gets transformed into slurry, it gets mixed with a hot sodium hydroxide solution. After that, the mixture is treated in a digester vessel at a pressure well above atmospheric after dissolving the aluminium hydroxide in bauxite while converting impurities into relatively insoluble compounds.

After all these processes, it is kept cool by removing all pressure, and it gets separated from the solution. Crystals of ammonium hydroxide later get converted into aluminium by heating, and after this, aluminium is ready. 

Al₂O₃ + 2NaOH → 2 NaAlO₂ + H₂O

2NaAlO₂ + 3H₂O + CO₂ → 2Al(OH)₃ + Na₂CO₃

2Al₂O₃ + 3C → 4Al + 3CO₂

In hot hydrochloric acid, when aluminium reacts with water with hydrogen evolution, aqueous sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide at room temperature forms aluminates under these conditions, aluminium is negligible. If we talk about aluminium, which is present on the earth, it is 1.59% aluminium by mass.

Aluminium forms an oxide that later forms rocks, and aluminium remains present through the earth’s crust; it is also present in the ocean at 2 μg/kg. Aluminium is also found in minerals like beryl, cryolite, garnet, spinel, and turquoise.

Impurities of aluminium are chromium and iron, yielding the gemstones ruby and sapphire, respectively. 

Aluminium is used in automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railway cars, and marine vessels. In various vehicles, aluminium is used to make them stronger.

Aluminium is also used to wrap food in the aluminium foil, which prevents food and kitchen utensils, furniture, and household items. It is also used in machinery, making it corrosion-resistant and non-pyrophoricity. Per year about 90% of aluminium is converted into metallic aluminium. 

Formula

Al

Solved Examples

1. What is required to extract aluminium?

Electrometallurgy is a process that is used to extract aluminium with an electrical discharge in the process.

2.What are the main chemical properties of aluminium?

Ductility, malleability, hardness, and conductivity are aluminium’s four main chemical properties.