How would our life on planet earth be modified if there was no aluminum at all? Examples welcomed.
Heavier. Technology would progress a lot slower because much of the stuff we take for granted is made possible by strong yet light materials such as aluminum.
One thing I know is that we wouldn't have effective deodorant, as aluminum is part of a compound that makes up a crucial ingredient.
LOL. I can remember what HOME life was like before aluminum. We had tin cans -- that's why they're called tin cans to this day. But soda didn't come in plastic bottles. They were glass! We had waxed paper for wrapping things. We had no tv antennas to worry about, mainly because there wasn't much tv then. I truly don't know what material they used to build airplanes, but there WERE airplanes. It's funny to look back at it now. It gives you a great respect for the human's adaptability. We did what we had to do when we had to do it, I suppose.
Airplanes would be too heavy to get off the ground. Howard Hughes built an airplane out of wood called the Spruce Goose. It couldn't get more than 20 feet off the ground and only went about a half mile. Aluminum is the lightest weight metal in relation to it's tensile strength.
It would pretty much be the same. Although aluminum is a very useful metal, if it were non-existent, we would simply use other metals or plastics. Plastic is just as infinitely recyclable as aluminum and lighter. Copper, tin, and magnesium (or an alloy of these) could be substitute for aluminum in certain applications. Then there are all these new composite materials being developed, some of which are lighter and stronger then most metals, including aluminum.
