What is aluminium atom?

     

Aluminium is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13.  It is a silvery-white, soft, non-magnetic and ductile metal in the boron group.  By mass, aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's curst and teh third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon).  The abundance of aluminium decreases relative to other elements at greater depths into Earth's mantle and beyond. 

     The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite.  Aluminium metal is highly reactive, so native specimens are rare and limited extreme reducing environments.  Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals.  Aluminium is remarkable for its low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation.  Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and important in transportation and building industries, such as building facades and window frames.  The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium.  

     Despite its prevalence in the environment, no living organism is known to use aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals.  Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a biological role for them is of continuing interest, and studies continue.