/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>10724109
There's no such thing as 'best metal' in an industrial standpoint, just different properties. Contrary to popular belief, aluminum does oxidize and corrode, just not as much as iron. It's about 1/3 the density of iron or steel with twice the strength to weight ratio with good aluminum alloys. (if I'm remembering the numbers correctly) It's total tensile strength might not be as high as one of the stronger steel alloys but it's use in certain applications can be superior if used correctly. It's a harder to work with material so manufacturing cost raises compared to steel. If this was the 1800s then maybe that guy has an argument but these days, it's better to look at how a material will be used than blindly claim a certain metal is the best for all applications.

Iron is great though, particularly steel alloys because it's cheap, plenty, easy to work with, and incredibly strong. It's flaws really are poor corrosion resistance and high density. All materials have a strength and weakness really.

In this context though, aluminum used to be a very rare metal with a difficult extraction process making it more valuable than gold a few centuries ago.