The Most Common Metal on Earth Was the Last One We Used

Comments · 927

• LA

  @LawrenceMclean · 1 month ago (edited)

  A major structural problem with Aluminium is that it and its primary alloys do not have fatigue limits. Aluminium is not widely used for things like springs, railway lines and fixtures, anything subject to high stress and highly cyclic loads. It is the reason Aircraft have to be retired.

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• GU

  @guessundheit6494 · 1 month ago

  He said aluminium could not be extracted by heat, but did not mention the melting points of the metals. &nbsp;Iron melts at 1538°C and copper at 1084°C (tin melts at 232°C). &nbsp;Aliminium melts at 660°C much lower than iron, but its reactive nature makes it hard to separate. &nbsp;All the metalloids and non-metals have high numbers of electrons in their outer shell, meaning they tend to have negative oxidation states and thus combine with other elements more easily. &nbsp;Metals like iron and copper have a lower number of electrons, meaning most have positive oxidation states and are easier to separate. &nbsp;Also, aluminium is more plentiful than iron because elements with lower numbers are easier to form (11 is lower than 26). &nbsp;Aluminium only requires the fusing of three helium atoms and decay from silicon. &nbsp;Iron requires 7 helium atoms and a more complex decay.<br><br>One of nature&apos;s cruelest tricks is that some of the most toxic elements (e.g. arsenic, lead, selenium, mercury, etc.) are some of the easiest to extract. &nbsp;We&apos;ve been poisoning oursleves for millennia.

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• MI

  @mikanoren1172 · 1 month ago

  Long story short:<br>A metals popularity comes from how easy it is to get to. Not how abundant it is.

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• HE

  @hermetic_wizard777 · 1 month ago

  Imagine being an ancient person and seeing a meteorite consisting of iron come crashing down; able to be fashioned into weapons or jewellery. To an ancient mind there would be no doubt that it&apos;s a gift from the gods.

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• WE

  @weseld1 · 1 month ago (edited)

  It is worth noting that the most popular field artillery made during the American Civil War was BRONZE even though armies had been making iron cannon for centuries. &nbsp;Iron could not be cast as reliably as bronze, and gunners preferred guns that would not unexpectedly blow up when you fired them. &nbsp;So for safety, iron guns were cast much heavier than bronze guns firing the same size shot. &nbsp;Improvements in casting and forging iron (and steel) guns would change that in the next 20 years, but only after &quot;new improved&quot; iron guns had repeatedly failed to work better than bronze.

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• GR

  @gregkocher5352 · 1 month ago

  There was a large aluminum smelter and separate Rolling Mill here where I live. It was here for less than 60 years. I worked at both and enjoyed understanding the electrolytic reduction of ore and the rolling process. My parents made a good living there and I paid for college working as a laborer.

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• 1A

  @1arritechno · 1 month ago

  The Aluminium &nbsp;Ore &nbsp;this &nbsp;Video &nbsp;struggles with , is called &quot; Bauxite &quot;..!

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• CH

  @charleslord2433 · 1 month ago

  Fun fact - Fontana Dam ( featured in the movie &quot;The Fugitive&quot;) was built primarily to power the Reynolds Aluminum plant.

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• MG

  @MG2318-r6u · 1 month ago (edited)

  Aluminium is common ONLY in the thin outer crust of the earth. &nbsp;The earth’s core is a ball of &nbsp;Iron and Nickel metal 7000km in diameter. It is 84% Iron.<br>The Outer Core is an “ocean” of Liquid Iron and Nickel &nbsp;2260km deep (which gives &nbsp;us the Earth’s magnetic field) whose “seabed”is the &nbsp;solid “Inner Core”. &nbsp; &nbsp;The Inner Nickel-Iron Core is solid because of the extreme pressure of the earth compressing it.<br>P.S. Iron and Nickel Iron meteorites are fragments of the cores of planets which were shattered in collisions early in the formation of the Solar System.

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• MA

  @MariePitre42 · 1 month ago

  My grandfather&apos;s entire career was built on refining bauxite..... He was the general manager in charge of building and implementing multiple bauxite refineries. He was a trained engineer and held several patents in his lifetime. &nbsp;I&apos;ll always regret not talking to him more about what he did. 🥰

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• JI

  @jimjam139 · 1 month ago

  If you look at the natural state that these metals are found in on earth it becomes clear that of course pure gold was found before common aluminium oxide.

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• UC

  @ucheopara6309 · 1 month ago

  I really thought this would be about titanium: the most fancy metal and very abundant too.

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