Is the alumiunum iMac really metal? Because....

[togermano]

I saw at the store one of them had a chip in it. It looks like its plastic made to look like metal when its really not

 

[Much Ado]

It's metal.

 

[rallycars]

Was I the only one here who took Geology in college? Aluminum is a mineral. Wikipedia calls it a poor metal, but I thought it was neither metal nor alloy. It certainly isn't magnetic. I might agree that it is metallic, however. No scientist, just a pseudo-informed opinion.

 

[Much Ado]

Was I the only one here who took Geology in college? Aluminum is a mineral. Wikipedia calls it a poor metal, but I thought it was neither metal nor alloy. It certainly isn't magnetic. I might agree that it is metallic, however. No scientist, just a pseudo-informed opinion.

IIRC, only Nickel, iron, cobalt and their alloys are ever magnetic.

Poor-metals are metals enough for this, though, surely?

 

[daneoni]

Its definitely metal but probably the lightest metal of all hence its use with aircrafts and london buses as its very malleable. I think the only plastic part of the iMac is the black back cover, everything else is aluminium or glass

 

[RichardI]

It's not pure aluminum, and it's definitely a metal. Pure aluminum would be a very bad idea much like pure copper or pure iron would be very bad. I'm sure it's an alloy of some sort. And aluminum is not the lightest metal available for sure. It's likely titanium or some other modern alloy. Aluminum will chip under the right circumstances, it will even burn.

Rich

 

[notjustjay]

under the right circumstances, it will even burn.

And then we call it thermite.

 

[v-ault]

Was I the only one here who took Geology in college? Aluminum is a mineral. Wikipedia calls it a poor metal, but I thought it was neither metal nor alloy. It certainly isn't magnetic. I might agree that it is metallic, however. No scientist, just a pseudo-informed opinion.

Aluminum is not a mineral according to my current geology teacher :O

 

[Macked]

24k

I saw at the store one of them had a chip in it. It looks like its plastic made to look like metal when its really not

Mine as it turns is solid gold!

 

[AlexisV]

Aluminium is a metal element, although it is found in nature only as bauxite, which is a mineral.

http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photoal.html

 

[Imidazole]

I saw at the store one of them had a chip in it. It looks like its plastic made to look like metal when its really not

That is because paint chips, my friend.

 

[togermano]

That is because paint chips, my friend.

Is the aluminium under the paint then?

 

[simoncoul]

The aluminum is probably anodized so there will be a thin coating on the surface that allows the aluminum to be the colour that is and makes the surface more scratch resistant. But if you scratch thru the surface then u will see the bare metal.

And aluminum is not a mineral it's a metal.