Aluminium is a typical metal in that it is…
- Shiny
- An excellent conductor of electricity
- An excellent conductor of heat
- Malleable (meaning it can be bent and shaped without snapping)
- Ductile (meaning it can be drawn out into wires and rolled into foil)
In other ways it is not very typical. It has quite a low density (2.7 g/cm3) and is not especially strong. When rolled into foil it is soft to the touch. Its chemistry is peculiar too. Although it should be quite a reactive metal (above zinc and below magnesium) it is coated in an unusually stable layer of oxide that is very resistant to attack by acids and other chemicals.
Although it is a metal, it can exhibit some non-metal properties. This is because it is found on the Periodic Table near the metalloids – elements that are not clearly either metal or non-metal. For example, aluminium’s oxide should be basic (ie inclined to neutralise acids) but it reacts with alkalis which is more the behaviour you would expect of a non-metal oxide. Indeed to remove the oxide layer from some aluminium, washing it with hot washing soda (sodium carbonate solution) does a great job.
That it exhibits atypical behaviour doesn’t rule it out from being a metal but it does affect how it might be used in industry.
Questions…
- What is produced when an acid and a base react?
- Name a typical physical characteristic of a non-metal element.
- Name a non-metal element and describe its physical characteristics at R.T.P.
- Suggest a possible pH for sodium carbonate solution.
- What is an artery?
- Which is the only artery to carry deoxygenated blood?
Further reading… Zirconium
Comments