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Naming History
The name for Aluminum is based on the Latin word alumen which means bitter salt and is the word for alum (potassium aluminum sulfate). The name for Aluminum was debated between the US and Europe with Europe using aluminium as the preffered spelling. In 1990 IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) recognized Aluminium as the approved spelling and in 1993 Alumnum was approved as an alternative.
Discovery
One of the first places that Aluminum was used was in the decoration of a third-centruy Chinese military leaders Chou-Chu's tomb. Ohter ancient civilizations such had uses for Aluminum, but it was not the pure metal, but rather as alum (potassium aluminum sulfate). At the end of the 1700s it was known that Aluminum oxide contained a yet to be identified element. The first person to produce Aluminum was Hans Christian Oersted in 1825 by heating aluminum chloride in the prescence of potassium metal. This sample was unpure however, and it wasn't until 1827 that Friedrich Wohler repeated this procedure but substituted sodium metal for potassium metal and successfully isolated pure Alimuinum.
Characteristics
Aluminum is the second most used metal (Iron), however it is not an essential element to living things.
Human blood contains 0.4 mg of Aluminum per litre of blood.
There is between 4 and 27 parts per million (ppm) Aluminum in bones.
Human tissues contain roughly 1-28 ppm Aluminum.
In total there is only about 60 mg of Aluminum in the human body.
The Earth's crust is 82,000 ppm (8.2 %) Aluminum making it the 3rd most abundant element.
Naturally Occurring Minerals
A few Aluminum based minerals are bauxite (AlO(OH)), gibbsite (Al(OH)4) and alumina (Al2O3). The production of alumina is around 78 million tonnes per year with China (20 million tonnes), Australia (19 million tonnes), Brazil (7 million tonnes), Jamaica (4 million tonnes) and the USA (4 million tonnes) being the chief producers.
Where can I find this element @ home
Some foods that have high levels of Aluminum are spinach, oats, lettuce, onions, potatoes, processed cheese, sponge cake mix, lentils, chickpeas and basmati rice.
Aluminum is often used in street lamps, power cables, boat masts, car bodies, motor engines, beer kegs, cooking foil and door handles.
Drink cans are often made of Aluminum and are also easily recycled.
Aluminum sulfate is often found in water purifiers.