What is Aluminium?
{{Infobox aluminium}} '''Aluminium''' (in [[American English]]: '''Aluminum''') is a [[chemical element]]. The [[symbol]] for aluminium is '''Al''', and its [[atomic number]] is 13. Aluminium is the most abundant [[metal]]. It is a [[mononuclidic element]]. ==History== People have tried to produce aluminium since 1760. The first successful attempt, finished in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam, yielding a lump of metal looking similar to [[tin]]. He presented his results and showed a sample of the new metal in 1825.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ck9jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|title=The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side|last1=Fontani|first1=Marco|last2=Costa|first2=Mariagrazia|last3=Orna|first3=Mary Virginia|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-938334-4|language=en}}</ref> In 1827, German chemist Friedrich Wöhler repeated Ørsted's experiments but did not identify any aluminium.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Venetski|first=S.|date=July 1969|title=?Silver? from clay|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF00741130|journal=Metallurgist|language=en|volume=13|issue=7|pages=451–453|doi=10.1007/BF00741130|s2cid=137541986|issn=0026-0894}}</ref> (The reason for this inconsistency was only discovered in 1921.) He conducted a similar experiment in the same year by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium and produced a powder of aluminium.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1854|title=Ueber das Aluminium|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ardp.18541300315|journal=Archiv der Pharmazie|volume=130|issue=3|pages=291–292|doi=10.1002/ardp.18541300315|s2cid=221422959|issn=0365-6233}}</ref> In 1845, he was able to produce small pieces of the metal and described some physical properties of this metal. For many years thereafter, Wöhler was credited as the person who discovered aluminium. ==Properties== Aluminium is a very good [[Electrical conductor|conductor]] of [[electricity]] and [[heat]]. It is light and