How: Aluminium Is Made Animation

The electricity rips the oxygen away from the aluminum. The oxygen bonds with the carbon rods and floats away as CO2, while the pure, heavy molten aluminum sinks to the bottom of the vat [1, 6]. Act IV: The Final Form

These crystals are baked in a rotary kiln at over 1,000°C [1, 6].

From red dirt to white powder, and from a lightning-bolt bath to a silver slab, the aluminum is now ready to be shaped into anything from a foil wrap to a jet engine.

The crushed bauxite enters a high-pressure "pressure cooker" filled with hot caustic soda [1, 6].