Name: aluminium	Group number: 13
Symbol: Al	Group name: (none)
Atomic number: 13	Period number: 3
Atomic weight: 26.981538 (2)	Block: p-block
CAS Registry ID: 7429-90-5	Voice:
Standard state: solid at 298 K	Colour: silvery
Classification: Metallic	Availability:

Isolation

Aluminium would not mormally be made in the laboratory as it is so readily available commercially.

Aluminium is mined in huge scales as bauxite (typically Al₂O₃.2H₂O). Bauxite contains Fe₂O₃, SiO₂, and other impurities. In order to isolate pure aluminium, these impurities must be removed from the bauxite. This is done by the Bayer process. This involves treatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, which results in a solution of sodium aluminate and sodium silicate. The iron remains behind as a solid. When CO₂ is blown through the resulting solution, the sodium silicate stays in solution while the aluminium is precipitated out as aluminium hydroxide. The hydroxide can be filtered off, washed, and heated to form pure alumina, Al₂O₃.

The next stage is formation of pure aluminium. This is obtained from the pure Al₂O₃ by an electrolytic method. Electrolysis is necessary as aluminium is so electropositive. It seems these days that electrolysis of the hot oxide in a carbon lined steel cell acting as the cathode with carbon anodes is most common.