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Aluminum (metal, not ore) was actually extremely expensive until the discovery of the electrolytic Hall–Héroult process ca 1880.
by phreeza 10y ago
Aluminum (metal, not ore) was actually extremely expensive until the discovery of the electrolytic Hall–Héroult process ca 1880.
- Florin_Andrei 10y agoYup. The reason why it was not used for a long time is that it was hard to make. Aluminum is a very reactive metal; when combined with oxygen or other stuff, it sits at the bottom of a deep pit of energy. It takes a lot of effort to get it out of there. The electrolytic process is basically a brute-force approach: throw enough energy at anything, and it will start moving eventually. Napoleon III had his fancy-dinner utensils made from aluminum, for those occasions when gold did not seem lavish enough. And then cheap manufacturing was invented, and the rest is history.