Titanium vs Aluminium
The aerospace rivals: strong-as-steel titanium at half the weight race, against the cheap, light champion aluminium.
Side by side
| Property | Titanium | Aluminium |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Ti | Al |
| Atomic number (Z) | 22 | 13 |
| Atomic mass | 47.867 u | 26.982 u |
| Category | Transition metal | Post-transition metal |
| Group | 4 | 13 |
| Period | 4 | 3 |
| Phase at room temp | solid | solid |
| Electron configuration | [Ar] 3d^2 4s^2 | [Ne] 3s^2 3p^1 |
| Valence electrons | 2 | 3 |
| Atomic radius | 176 pm | 118 pm |
| Electronegativity | 1.54 | 1.61 |
| First ionisation energy | 658 kJ/mol | 578 kJ/mol |
The verdicts
- Bigger atom: Titanium — the lower an element sits in its group, the more shells it wears.
- Greedy electron-taker: Aluminium — higher electronegativity means it pulls shared electrons harder.
- Heavier: Titanium — compare the atomic masses in the table above.
Want the visual version with bars for radius, electronegativity and ionisation energy? Open the interactive compare tool with this pair already loaded.