Aluminium

 Aluminium is abundant metal in earth’s crust. Aluminium is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, non-magnetic and ductile metal in the boron group. Its electronic configuration is as below

Shell	K	L	m
Number of electrons	2	8	3
Orbitals	1s2	2s22p6	3s23p1

Position of aluminium in periodic table: Aluminium has 3 valence electrons. So it is placed in group IIIA of periodic table. It falls on p-block under 3^rd period. Its valency is 3 and becomes Al⁺⁺⁺ by donating three electrons.

Occurrence of aluminium: in nature aluminium is not found in free state but abundantly available in ore like bauxite(Al₂O_3.2H₂O), felspar(KAlSi₃O₈), kaolin, alunite etc. As bauxite is more abundant it is the main source of aluminium.

Physical properties of aluminium

• It is white colored light metal
• Its specific gravity is 2.7
• It is good conductor of heat and electricity
• Its melting point is about 660oc and boiling point is 1800oC.
• It is malleable and ductile in nature

Uses of aluminium

• It is used to make electrical wire on transmission line
• Home use utensils are made from aluminium like pressure cooker and rice cooker
• It is used to make photo frames
• It is used to make partitions inside buildings
• As it is light metal It is used to make aero plane body
• Aluminium powder is used on making paint and small scale hydrogen production
• It is used to make wrappers for wrapping food items like biscuits and chocolates
• It is used to make coins
• It is used to make alloys which are used to make bicycle frame