What is Aluminium Foil?
Aluminum is the third most abundant element on earth. It is extracted from bauxite. Bauxite is refined to make a pure aluminum oxide call alumina. The alumina is charged with an electrical current. This process is know as electrolic reduction. The metal produced from this process is added to a wide variety of alloys allowing them to provide specific characteristics suited for a variety of applications.
Aluminum foil manufacturers commonly use pure aluminum. In recent years it has become popular to add a variety of aluminum alloys engineered to add strength and reduce thickness of the aluminum foil.
Aluminium foil, often referred to as tin foil, is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than 0.2 millimetres thinner gauges down to 6 micrometers are also commonly used. In the United States, foils are commonly gauged in thousandths of an inch or mils. Standard household foil is around 0.016 mm thick, and heavy duty household foil is around 0.024 mm. The foil is pliable, and can be readily bent or wrapped around objects. Thin foils are fragile and are sometimes laminated to other materials such as plastics or paper to make them more useful. Aluminium foil supplanted tin foil in the mid 20th century.
Annual production of aluminium foil was approximately 800,000 tonnes in Europe and 600,000 tonnes in the U.S. in 2003. Approximately 75% of aluminium foil is used for packaging of foods, cosmetics, and chemical products, and 25% used for industrial applications e.g. thermal insulation, cables and electronics.
In North America, aluminium foil is known as aluminum foil. It became popular by Reynolds Metals, the leading manufacturer in North America. In the United Kingdom and United States it is, informally, widely called tin foil, for historical reasons, similar to how aluminum cansare often still called "tin cans". Metallised films are sometimes mistaken for aluminium foil, but are actually polymer films coated with a thin layer of aluminium. In Australia, aluminium foil is widely called alfoil.
So people can understand here are a few uses for Aluminium foil:
Aluminum foil manufacturers commonly use pure aluminum. In recent years it has become popular to add a variety of aluminum alloys engineered to add strength and reduce thickness of the aluminum foil.
Aluminium foil, often referred to as tin foil, is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than 0.2 millimetres thinner gauges down to 6 micrometers are also commonly used. In the United States, foils are commonly gauged in thousandths of an inch or mils. Standard household foil is around 0.016 mm thick, and heavy duty household foil is around 0.024 mm. The foil is pliable, and can be readily bent or wrapped around objects. Thin foils are fragile and are sometimes laminated to other materials such as plastics or paper to make them more useful. Aluminium foil supplanted tin foil in the mid 20th century.
Annual production of aluminium foil was approximately 800,000 tonnes in Europe and 600,000 tonnes in the U.S. in 2003. Approximately 75% of aluminium foil is used for packaging of foods, cosmetics, and chemical products, and 25% used for industrial applications e.g. thermal insulation, cables and electronics.
In North America, aluminium foil is known as aluminum foil. It became popular by Reynolds Metals, the leading manufacturer in North America. In the United Kingdom and United States it is, informally, widely called tin foil, for historical reasons, similar to how aluminum cansare often still called "tin cans". Metallised films are sometimes mistaken for aluminium foil, but are actually polymer films coated with a thin layer of aluminium. In Australia, aluminium foil is widely called alfoil.
So people can understand here are a few uses for Aluminium foil:
- Cover cookie sheets with foil. They can be wiped clean with wet paper towels, dried and reused for continuous cookie baking. At the end of the baking session, cleanup is a snap.
- Wrap foil around doorknobs when painting to avoid drips.
- Brighten outdoor lighting in your yard or at a campsite by placing shiny, reflecting aluminum foil behind the lamp.
- If you don’t wan’t your dog on the furniture, put pieces of foil on it. The rustle of the foil frightens the dog.
- Make a substitute funnel in a hurry by doubling aluminum foil and rolling it into a cone, reducing the small end to the required size.
- Wrap heavy-duty foil around a panel of insulation board and tuck it behind radiators and baseboard heaters to reflect heat into the room.
- Place a piece of foil under the napkin in the serving basket and hot rolls will stay warm longer.
- Put a piece of aluminum foil under the ironing board cover to reflect and make ironing go faster. Or, if you’re afraid of scorching a fabric, place it between two pieces of foil and iron.
- Enjoy a cold drink outdoors by covering your glass tightly with a piece of foil and sticking a straw through it to keep insects out.
- For winter protection, cover the vents on your air conditioner with aluminum foil.
- To stave off hunger in a hotel room when traveling, buy bread, cheese and aluminum foil. Make a cheese sandwich, wrap it in foil, then press it with a travel iron. In minutes you’ll have a toasted, melted cheese sandwich.
- For craft/cover-up projects: aluminum foil can be spray painted.
- Line the bottom of a pan with aluminum foil. Add several spoonfuls of baking soda and fill the pan with boiling water. Now drop in your silver pieces and watch the tarnish disappear.
The photographs above are all examples of what dishes you can use for cooking. Aluminium for wrapping foods (left), square tin for ovens (middle), round tin mainly used for deserts (right).
The photo on the bottom left are ingots. These are what makes up aluminium foil.
The photo on the bottom left are ingots. These are what makes up aluminium foil.