...is a metal. Period, the end. Do NOT come in here and tell me "Aluminum is not a metal it is an alloy, that's what they said on OCC" because when I am done you will BEG for the sweet sweet embrace of cold silent death. Now get outta my office.
I know you know about metal and stuff...but...isn't it an alloy? I thought it was. I mean I know its an element and all but...?
an alloy is a compound of different metal elements so yeah . . . aluminum is a metal and is used in alloys [edit] curses I've been ninja'd! don't ya just love it when people know that they're right about something they have no clue about
I won't debate that! Let's just refer to it as the thirteenth element of the periodic table. Can't go wrong there .
that's EXT RAHD N RY! okay now maybe some Brits would like to make fun of how us Yanks pronounce things for a bit now eh? haha
Actually I studied with several Master machinists of different nationalities, The British fellow was a hoot to work with. That's how I know about the Jag-you-are-s being made out of Al-you-mini-yum.
What about steel? Iron and Carbon are both necessary component of steel. Iron is a metal. Carbon is a non-metal. So what is steel? What properties are needed for a 'mixture' to be called a metal?
So what is it then? In this situation the majority of the material *is* in fact metal so it is classified as metal... mixed with something else.
As the carbon content is increased, steel becomes less metallic. It's like crossing pears and apples, and at what point does the hybrid stop being an apple? For metals, I think the key property should be delocalised electrons when the material is in a solid phase, which is responsible strong electrical conductivity, and metallic taste. Strictly speaking, I think that metal refers principally to elements rather than alloys, just as pear-apple-hybrids are not strictly apples. But there is a blurring of the definitions where we casually interpret some ingredient as an impurity, rather than a true ingredient. So it goes either way. edit: In fact I think metal is more of a property than an identity. iirc, some materials which are not normally considered metals, can be made 'metallic', by altering their physical structures.
All good points but for the sake of not confusing the blargenwoots out of the non-technical we refer to steel and such as metal. Same with Aluminum. It gets worse with plastics, because plastic is a STATE of matter not a type... the proper term is Polymer Resin but people refer to it as "plastic..." Further insult is added when they assume all "plastics" are the same and the only adjustable property is the color... when in fact there are HUNDREDS of types of workable polymers all with very distinct advantages and disadvantages. Yes, some cost more than others. No I don't make these numbers up. Fine, make your petrol-can out of polystyrene see if I care.
Well theres the fact that most "true" metals are either 'd' or 'f' valence shell atoms (Transition metals, Lanthanide's and Actinide's). When you get to the likes of Aluminium which is 'p' valent you're entering the more murky Metalloid/Semi-Metal section of the table. I know several of them are strictly known as metals or thought of as such but tend towards semi-metallic behaviour. Aluminium (spell checker here is American, keeps putting up Aluminum) is a lighter, softer metal of the 'p' block elements, but yeah still an individual metal and not an alloy.