Question

The symbol for aluminium is
a.) $Al$
b.) $Am$
c.) $All$
d.) $Alu$

Answer 1

Hint: Aluminium is an element, An element forms a building block for molecules and hence forms compounds which take part in chemical reaction. According to the convention for naming in chemistry standards elements present in the periodic table are to be symbolized by two letters with first letter being capital and second being lowercase character.

Complete step by step answer:
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, non-magnetic metal used for its ductile properties.
By mass, aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust and the third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon).
As we know that elements names and symbols come from the Latin names when they were actually discovered .So scientists began using them as standards for naming them and symbolizing them.
As per standards the two letters are to be taken from the Latin name of the element and then the symbol is being given for the element
First letter is to be capital and second letter has to be in lower case according to the standards.
The name aluminum is derived from the ancient name for alum , which was alumen (Latin, meaning bitter salt). Aluminum was the original name given to the element by Humphry Davy but others called it aluminum.
So from alumen is the symbol taken and considering the standards $Al$ is the correct symbol Al.
So, the correct answer is “Option A”.

Note: Giving symbols of compounds is quite different from the case of elements.
Consider the case of $CO\,and\,Co$ first is compound carbon monoxide and second is element cobalt.
Aluminium has a $+3$ valency and is a reactive element.