Aluminum (Al, also Aluminium outside North America) is one of the most abundant metals in our everyday life, owing to its light weight and corrosion resistance. In its pure form, it can be found throughout your house, although we refer to those products by the former metal they were made from – tin!

Tin cans and tin foil are actually made with aluminum. Pop cans are an easy source because they are easier to melt. Aluminum has a fairly low melting point of 660 °C (1220 °F), which a butane torch is capable of reaching. A foundry is a useful tool to have or construct for this purpose.

Aluminum is named after the mineral alum, from which it was isolated until the discovery of bauxite.