Both aluminum and aluminium have a long history of use referring to the metallic element (commonly used as foil to cover food). They both date to the early 19th century, stemming from the word alumina. Aluminum became preferred in the United States and Canada, while aluminium became favored throughout the rest of the English-speaking world.
Which is correct aluminum or aluminium?
T
hat's right: Davy didn't call it by either of the names we use today. He instead used the term [size=1][i]alumium[/i] (and only in the theoretical), a perfectly reasonable coinage from the Latin [i]alumina[/i] with a nice [i]-ium[/i] on the end.[/size]
To '-ium' or Not to '-ium'
In some other universe the story of the word ends there. But it seems that Davy had a change of heart—and perhaps right away. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that in a lecture he delivered in 1809 and published in 1810, Davy does not use the term [size=1][i]alumium[/i], but refers only to good old alumina as [i]alumine[/i]. By 1812, Davy had revised his coinage, opting instead for [i]aluminum[/i]. But the previous year another scientist, in a review of another Davy lecture, had coined [i]aluminium[/i], with the nice [i]-ium[/i] that was so familiar in [i]potassium[/i] and [i]sodium[/i] (which, incidentally, Davy had also coined).[/size]
Noah Webster, in his 1828 [size=1][i]An American Dictionary of the English Language[/i], defined [i]aluminum[/i] as "The name given to the supposed metallic base of alumina." By the time of the 1909 [i]Webster's New International Dictionary[/i], both [i]aluminum[/i] and [i]aluminium[/i] were noted at the word's entry, and the following note was included:[/size]
Quote:[size=1]The word was first proposed by Davy in the form [size=1][i]alumium[/i], and changed by him to [i]aluminum[/i]; but was finally made [i]aluminium[/i] to conform to the analogy of [i]sodium[/i], [i]potassium[/i], etc. The form [i]aluminum[/i] is in common use in mining, manufacturing, and the trade in the United States; the form [i]aluminium[/i] is used with practical uniformity in Great Britain and generally by chemists in the United States.[/size][/size]
In the 1934 [size=1][i]Webster's Second International Dictionary[/i], [i]aluminium[/i] was noted as being "especially British," and the last line of that note had been revised:[/size]
Quote:[size=1]The form [size=1][i]aluminum[/i] is in common use in the United States; the form [i]aluminium[/i] is used in Great Britain and by some chemists in the United States.[/size][/size]
The American Chemical Society (ACS) officially adopted [size=1][i]aluminum[/i] in 1925, but in 1990 The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) accepted [i]aluminium[/i] as the international standard.[/size]
And so we land today: with [size=1][i]aluminum[/i] used by the English speakers of North America, and [i]aluminium[/i] used everywhere else. Wrap your food and protect your head accordingly.[/size]