We have all heard the Us saying aluminum and their euro counterparts saying aluminium. I assumed this was just a small difference in culture or location. But, while reading my chemistry book (Chemistry the Central Science 12th) i came across a section saying: Cations formed from nonmetal atoms have names that end in -ium: NH4+ ammonIUM ion, H3O+ hydronIUM ion. So, i have came up with a hypothesis, could it be possible that when the periodic table was coming together, the aluminium was changed to aluminum to allow the rules to work? Thus making aluminum the correct spelling? Give me your thoughts.
It just depends on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you live. Come to think of it though, most metals end in ium. Not just the ions.
There have been some disputes over element naming. Aluminium is just one of the many. Davy originally named the metal aluminum, after the alum series of minerals. However, people complained about the sound of the word and suggested aluminium instead, to conform with the -ium suffix of many metals (though not all, such as platinum and molybdenum). In 19th-century US, aluminium (with the extra i) was the most used spelling. However, the Hall process of extracting the metal from its ores (an American invention) used aluminum as the spelling, meaning the preferred spelling state-side became aluminum with the omitted letter i. IUPAC states that aluminium is the preferred spelling, but states aluminum as an acceptable variant.
www.okorder ... aluminum (n.) 1812, coined by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), from alumina, name given 18c. to aluminum oxide, from Latin alumen alum (see alum). Davy originally called it alumium (1808), then amended this to aluminum, which remains the U.S. word, but British editors in 1812 further amended it to aluminium, the modern preferred British form, to better harmonize with other metallic element names (sodium, potassium, etc.).
