WEBVTT - Where does aluminum come from?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stuff Works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, where

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<v Speaker 1>does aluminium come from? Our modern world would not be

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<v Speaker 1>possible without aluminium. It's a metal that's both lightweight and strong.

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<v Speaker 1>Aluminum is the primary metal used in all modern passenger

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<v Speaker 1>jets in the air today. The same is true of

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<v Speaker 1>the Space Shuttle in the International Space Station. They wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>be even possible without aluminum. Cars often contain aluminum in

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<v Speaker 1>the form of rims and engine blocks. We also find

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum around the house in the form of beer canned

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum foil, frying pans, bicycles, and folding lawn chairs. The

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<v Speaker 1>biggest advantage of aluminum is it's lightweight when compared to

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<v Speaker 1>something like steel. If you have a cube made of

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<v Speaker 1>steel that weighs three pounds, the same sized cube of

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum will weigh just over one pound. The aluminum will

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<v Speaker 1>not be as strong as steel, but when an aluminum

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<v Speaker 1>structure is engineered to have the same strength as a

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<v Speaker 1>steel structure, the aluminum structure might weigh one third less.

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<v Speaker 1>This explains why aluminum is so popular and things like

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<v Speaker 1>airplanes and spacecraft and even cars to a greater degree today.

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<v Speaker 1>Another advantage for aluminum is its natural corrosion resistance. When

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<v Speaker 1>it gets wet, steel rusts, especially if it's not painted.

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<v Speaker 1>Aluminum doesn't rust. An airplane can fly without any paint

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<v Speaker 1>if so desired, and that saves even more weight. However,

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum is more expensive than steel. Pound for pound, aluminum

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<v Speaker 1>can cost three or four times more than steel. It's

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<v Speaker 1>true that you don't need as much aluminum as you

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<v Speaker 1>do steel to reach the same strength, but aluminum still

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<v Speaker 1>costs more. That's why most cars today are made of steel.

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<v Speaker 1>A steel car body might cost half as much as

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<v Speaker 1>an aluminium car body. The reason why aluminum costs more

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<v Speaker 1>is because of the way it's made. An aluminum factory

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<v Speaker 1>starts the production process with a mind rock called box site.

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<v Speaker 1>Box site is crushed and treated with chemicals to remove

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<v Speaker 1>the impurities, and what's left after processing is alumina, also

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<v Speaker 1>known as aluminum oxide. To make aluminum, you have to

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<v Speaker 1>take the oxygen out of alumina, so the illumina is

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<v Speaker 1>put in a large graphite lined vessel with a chemical

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<v Speaker 1>called cryolite. Huge amounts of electricity, heat and separate the

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum atoms. This is why aluminum factories are often located

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<v Speaker 1>near hydroelectric power plants and other sources of cheap electricity,

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<v Speaker 1>and it also explains why aluminum is expensive. It takes

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<v Speaker 1>about six kilowatt hours of electricity to make one pound

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<v Speaker 1>of aluminum from box site. When you consider that a

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<v Speaker 1>homeowner typically pays ten cents per kilowatt hour for a electricity,

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<v Speaker 1>you can get a sense of the effect of that

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<v Speaker 1>electricity on the cost of aluminum. Just the electricity represents

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<v Speaker 1>a significant cost, not to mention the cost of the

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<v Speaker 1>box site itself, it's transportation, and the other chemicals and

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<v Speaker 1>equipment needed to make aluminium. For this a reason, aluminium

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<v Speaker 1>costs more than a dollar per pound in bulk right now. Historically, however,

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum is now quite inexpensive. Before the invention in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>six of the process used today to make aluminum, it

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<v Speaker 1>was extremely difficult and time consuming to create aluminum from

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<v Speaker 1>or When they capped the Washington Monument in eighteen eighty four,

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<v Speaker 1>they used a small aluminum pyramid weighing about six pounds.

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<v Speaker 1>At the time, aluminum cost about one dollar per ounce

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<v Speaker 1>in today's dollars. That means that a pound of aluminum

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<v Speaker 1>in the eighteen eighty four cost about three dollars. The

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<v Speaker 1>cost of aluminum to day is an credible bargain compared

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<v Speaker 1>to that. Today, the stealing cars is in the process

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<v Speaker 1>of being replaced by aluminum. Lighter cars use less gasoline,

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<v Speaker 1>and as gas gets more expensive, aluminum makes more sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Aluminum hoods are not uncommon today. The Toyota Prius is

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<v Speaker 1>said to have one, and that one piece can shave

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<v Speaker 1>as much as twenty pounds off the weight of the car. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>aluminum airplanes are heading toward carbon fiber. This transition is

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<v Speaker 1>not happening quite as quickly because carbon fiber is so

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<v Speaker 1>new and and tested in large things like airplanes. Boeing

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<v Speaker 1>seven seven Dreamliner will be the first mostly carbon commercial

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<v Speaker 1>passenger jet to take to the skies. For more on

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