Aluminum Foil covered book

Aluminum Foil covered book
Originally uploaded by paxswill.

Do we live in an era that could be called the Aluminum Age?

Bauxite from Brazil - one of many nations with bauxite - enables us to have aluminum in things such as -

- Transportation (automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railroad cars, marine vessels, bicycles etc.)
- Packaging (cans, foil, etc.)
Water treatment
- Treatment against fish parasites such as Gyrodactylus salaris.
Construction (windows, doors, siding, building wire, etc.)
- Consumer durable goods (appliances, cooking utensils, etc.)
- Electrical transmission lines (aluminium components and wires are less dense than those made of copper and are lower in price[1], but also present higher electrical resistance. Many localities prohibit the use of aluminium in residential wiring practices because of its higher resistance and thermal expansion value.)
- Machinery
- MKM steel and Alnico magnets, although non-magnetic itself
- Super purity aluminium (SPA, 99.980% to 99.999% Al), used in electronics and CDs.
- Powdered aluminium, a commonly used silvering agent in paint, due to its retention of reflectance, even as powder. Aluminium flakes may also be included in undercoat paints, particularly wood primer — on drying, the flakes overlap to produce a water resistant barrier.
- Anodised aluminium is more stable to further oxidation, and is used in various fields of construction, as well as heat sinking.
Most electronic appliances that require cooling of their internal devices (like transistors, CPUs - semiconductors in general) have heat sinks that are made of aluminium due to its ease of manufacture and good heat conductivity. Copper heat sinks are smaller, although more expensive, harder to manufacture, and heavier.
In the blades of weapons (such as swords) designed for stage combat.
- Aluminium oxidizes very energetically and as a result powdered aluminium has found use in solid rocket fuels, thermite, and other pyrotechnic compositions.