Why doesn't aluminum work to produce electricity when it reacts basically the same as copper?

Answer 1

It does....
How do I know? I used aluminum foil in a primitive battery I made. The "battery" itself generated about .5 volts but it did make electricity. If you put any two different metals in an electrolyte, you will make a primitive battery, and aluminum is a metal the last time I checked.

Answer 2

Older homes and buildings use aluminum wiring, which turns out to have been a BIG mistake. Aluminum has substantially higher resistance, so there is a lot more resistive heating of the wires, which also represent energy losses in the wiring. Additionally, aluminum oxidizes and work hardens, thereby potentially increasing the resistance to the point where any current flow results in ignition and potential fire danger to the house.

nuff said about using aluminum in wiring.

However, integrated circuits, which didn't use as much current used aluminum for wiring, although the more recent integrated circuits use copper, since the manufacturers figured out how to etch copper consistently and producibly.

Answer 3

it does! it just isn't used as much...more expensive, isn't "as" conductive and it corrodes in a way not benificial to electrical connection at the ends of the windings