In 1886, Charles Martin Hall of Oberlin, Ohio, and Paul Louis-Toussaint Heroult of France, simultaneously yet independently discovered an economical way to produce aluminum with electricity. Their method is still standard practice in modern aluminum production. Alumina powder, a compound of aluminum and oxygen, is dissolved in molten cryolite in large carbon-lined pots. Electrical current is passed through the mixture. The oxygen reacts with the carbon, forming carbon dioxide, while the aluminum settles to the bottom and is siphoned off.
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