Moral, Economical & Environmental Factors

The use of Iron brings a lot of factors that can be negative or positive depending on the point of view. The extraction process of iron is very harmful to the environment due to the high amount of petroleum-produced energy, the cutting of trees to open space for machinery and the large quantities of water needed to clean and wash the mine. The smelting and refining process is also very harmful to the environment because it requires the melting of the ore which produces high amounts of toxic gases which are then released into the air, this smelting also requires high amounts of energy and the extraction of other materials to create alloys such as coke (coal) and limestone. The moral factors are also affected because this extraction of iron will cause harmful gases to create pollution which people will inhale, causing them various diseases, but iron is also helping people, by making their life easier. Concerning the economical factors, iron extraction and commerce is a very profitable business which causes a lot of income for people. The use of aluminum can bring with it certain negative aspects, mainly economic and environmental ones. The extraction of aluminum requires the destruction of landscapes and ecosystems, and also the machines used to extract this element generate noise and air pollution in the surroundings. The process for refining the aluminum (or separating it from other elements, basically) takes up a lot of electricity usage, which alters the environment. This process is also quite pricey, since it requires the acquisition of cryolite, which is very expensive by itself. In general, including all of the machinery needed to get the aluminum, getting aluminum requires a lot of money.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aluminum. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia(2001)

Construction Elements

DAVYSON, Sam. Aluminum http://sam.davyson.com/as/physics/aluminium/sit eus/ (No date specified-2011)

HISTORY OF ALUMINUM. History http://www.historyofaluminum.com/ 2008

Info Please. Steel- Types and Uses. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0861314.htm 2007

Iron (2007) from Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia

Pig Iron (2011) from Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia

MUKHERJEE, Bidisha. Iron. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/iron-uses-ofiron.html - 2010

Franco Zacharzewski Juan Jos Guzmn 7.2

Skyscraper (2011) from Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia

Modern Day Uses

Aluminum, now days, is used for many different things, because of its particular properties. Aluminum can be used for packaging things such as food and drinks. Thanks to its strength to weight ratio, it is commonly used to build many types of transportation vehicles. This element is also used for building long distance power-lines. We chose aluminum, in this case, for building a plane, because it is a very resistant material, and its also very strong, even though its quite light in.

History
Iron is an element that has been in use since the year 4000 BC, it was first used and developed in ancient Egypt, Europe and India, as an important material used to cast weapons and different types of armors. It was later developed by the Chinese and other cultures in East Asia so that it became stronger and more durable; later creating steel and pig iron, materials that will serve their purpose in a better way than normal Iron. While the original discoverer of Iron is not known, it is thought that it was discovered in the year 4100 BC by the Ancient Egyptians and then given the name Iron, which comes from the Latin word Ferrum.

WHAT ARE THEIR PROPERTIES?

In the case of aluminum, it is a great material for building airplanes, because of its unique properties. Aluminum is very light, making it an ideal material to help to reduce a plains weight. It is also protected from corrosion and it is also non-poisonous. For itself, aluminum isn't rather weak for this job, but by creating alloys of this material with steel or iron can easily make it much stronger.

In modern times Iron has not as many uses as it used to have, instead an alloy of it which is called steel is now used in various types of things. Steel is used in almost everything we can think of. For example it was used to build the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, steel has also been used to build several of the most famous sky scrapers of the world such as the Petronas towers in Malaysia. Steel and iron is also used in home appliances such as stainless steel knives and garden fences. Because of its strength and durability it is the perfect material used to build things that will have strength against any type of climate and weight. Steel and iron are the perfect elements with a unique structural integrity and strength.

Aluminum was first identified by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. He was a British inventor and chemist, who is also recognized for discovering several alkaline metals. In 1825, Hans Christian Oersted was the first man to get his hands on a physical piece of aluminum, already extracted from the other components, such as oxygen, with who this element is originally found. The name of this element comes from the Latin translation of alum, alumen. Later on, a derivation from the name emerged, alumina, and finally Sir Humphry Davy baptized it aluminum. Since most elements end in the conjunction ium it is also commonly referred to as aluminium.

Iron is a material ideal to construct a large and tall building, such as the Eiffel Tower in France and The Empire State Building in New York City; because of its unique properties of being strong and resistant against different environmental factors such as wind, something which tall buildings must face every day. Pig Iron is the type of iron that was used to construct the Eiffel Tower because it is stronger than normal iron, people achieve this "pig iron" by making an alloy of Iron ore, coke and limestone, and smelting it several times until the Iron has the desired hardness.