The New Student's Reference Work/Aluminum

Alu′minum or Alumin′ium, a white metal like tin in appearance.  It is the most abundant of the metals, being found in clay, marl, feldspar, slate, mica and many other minerals, but it cannot be cheaply manufactured although great improvement has been made in this direction.  (See Metallurgy.)  It may be rolled into very thin foil and drawn into very fine wire, and when rolled it becomes harder.  When struck it gives forth a very musical sound, and hence is sometimes used for making bells.  It is a light metal of about the weight of porcelain, and for many purposes is more convenient than silver.  It makes useful alloys; with copper it makes an alloy resembling fine brass, called aluminum-bronze.  This alloy is used in cheap jewelry and is adapted for gun metal.  It also forms a very useful alloy with silver.  It is now used for cooking utensils and a wide variety of other products.