Page 6 - Altogether Magazine Q1_2017 English

MAGAZINE

FEATURE STORIES

A Brief History bars next to their crown jewels! THE MOST
However, in 1888, the aluminium COVETED
Aluminium is a comparatively market suffered a crash. Chemistry- METAL IN
young metal and its commercial savvy entrepreneurs in the THE WORLD
use dates back only about 150 years. US figured out how to isolate BECAME THE
However, Aluminium is the most aluminium in large chunks, cheaply. UTTERLY
common metal found on earth – in The way in which they did so was BLASÉ METAL
other words, it is almost twice as ingenious – they ran a current WE ALL
common as other metals like iron. through a bath of liquid with KNOW TODAY
Even so, man could not find a way dissolved aluminum ore in it and
to extract aluminium from ores as the electricity shocked the dissolved
they did with iron, using heat. No aluminum molecules, knocking
matter how much heat is applied them out of solution, at which point
to aluminium, it does not separate small gray nuggets collected in the
from its ore. vat. They then catered the mass-
This was the case until the isolated metal for industrial use.
1820s, when a German chemist From a world production total of
successfully isolated just a few perhaps a few ounces per month
flakes on aluminium. Due to its in the decades before, by 1888, the
unique, durable and sustainable largest U.S. aluminum company
properties, it became a great hit – could produce almost 50 pounds of
and it remains a hit today! aluminum each day. Within 20 years,
One of the reasons for its popularity it had to ship out 88,000 pounds per
was its colour. Element 13 – day to meet demand. As production
aluminium’s scientific term – has soared, prices plummeted. In the
a gorgeous lustre and smooth, mid-1800s, the first aluminum
dark colour that reminded many ingots on the market went for $550
of the sparkle of luxury metals like per pound. Fifty years later, not even
gold and silver. When it was made adjusting for inflation, it cost 25
popular in the 1800s, many thought cents for the same amount.
that aluminium would be the next And with that drop, the most
precious metal! coveted metal in the world became
Fun fact: Research shows that in the the utterly blasé metal we all know
first half of the 1800s, aluminium today—the basis for soda cans,
was more popular and more pinging Little League bats, and
expensive than gold and silver airplane bodies.
as it was harder to obtain. As an
example, the French government
used to display thick aluminium

6