2) Element symbol: Al
 

3) Number of electrons, protons, and neutrons: 13 electron, 13 proton, 14 neutrons
 

4) Atomic number: 13
 

5) Atomic mass: 26.98154
 

6) Characteristics:

Aluminum is a lightweight, silvery-white metal.
 

7)

History:

Hans Christian Oersted, a Danish chemist, first isolated aluminum in 1825, using a chemical process involving potassium amalgam. Between 1827 and 1845 Friedrick Wöhler, a German chemist, improved Oersted's process by using metallic potassium. He was the first to measure the specific gravity of aluminum and show its lightness.

In 1854 Henri Sainte - Claire Deville (1818-81), in France, obtained the metal by reducing aluminum chloride with sodium. Aided by the financial backing of Napoleon III, Deville established a large-scale experimental plant and displayed pure aluminum at the Paris Exposition of 1855.

Three things made from the element:

Because of aluminum's high strength - to weight ratio it makes aluminum useful in the construction of

- aircraft

- railroad cars

- automobiles

and other applications in which mobility and energy conservation are important.
 

8) Isotopes:

All natural aluminum is the stable isotope aluminum-27.
 

9) Aluminum is slowly attacked by most dilute acids and rapidly dissolves in concentrated hydrochloric acid. Concentrated nitric acid, however, can be shipped in aluminum tank cars because it renders the metal passive. Even very pure aluminum is vigorously attacked by alkalis such as sodium and potassium hydroxide to yield hydrogen and the aluminate ion. Because of its great affinity for oxygen, finely divided aluminum, if ignited, will burn in carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide with the formation of aluminum oxide and carbide; but, at temperatures up to red heat, aluminum is inert to sulfur.
 

10) Aluminum melts at 660 °C (1220 °F) and boils at 2467 °C (4473 °F).