# Transparent aluminum **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245 "2018-02-21T02:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/1 "2018-02-21T02:57:38Z")
Beam me up, Scotty - it exists. (Apparently, I live under a rock and missed this until today.) It’s technically [Aluminium oxynitride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride). It definitely has [interesting and useful properties](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaYt62_osYA). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/2 "2018-02-21T07:39:22Z")
Yay! Now I can finally have that pet whale I’ve been yearning for! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/3 "2018-02-21T11:07:08Z")
If you are going to count compounds containing aluminum, then you have [Gorilla Glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_Glass) and [sapphire glass](https://gizmodo.com/whats-sapphire-glass-and-why-would-apple-want-it-in-yo-1603457905). ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/4 "2018-02-21T13:20:38Z")
Very cool! ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/5 "2018-02-21T13:52:25Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It’s technically [Aluminium oxynitride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride). So not aluminum. Just like optically transparent sapphire isn’t transparent aluminum. It’s alpha-alumina. This is like calling water “liquid oxygen you can drink!” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/6 "2018-02-21T15:55:06Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > This is like calling water “liquid oxygen you can drink!” Actually, “liquid hydrogen you can drink” sounds more impressive. A nice tall glass of liquid hydrogen. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/7 "2018-02-21T16:05:11Z")
Way cool. I got my official communicator a while back. Now with this real phasers and transporters can’t be far behind. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/8 "2018-02-21T23:32:45Z")
I was fascinated when I first read this. I read up on the substance and realized that it had in fact been invented back in the 70s and is still under patent to one company. Clearly a commercial product and clearly the owners have decided that low sales works for them. Otherwise we would have it in everyone’s car windows by now! 🙂 As I gather from reading, one basic limitation is that it is so hard it is difficult to polish properly-raising it’s costs. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/9 "2018-02-21T23:39:46Z")
Again, a compound that contains aluminum is not “transparent aluminum.” And if it is, then the aluminosilicate Gorilla Glass on millions of cell phones is “transparent aluminum” and the sapphire on some Apple devices is “transparent aluminum.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/10 "2018-02-22T00:05:20Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Again, a compound that contains aluminum is not “transparent aluminum.” And if it is, then the aluminosilicate Gorilla Glass on millions of cell phones is “transparent aluminum” and the sapphire on some Apple devices is “transparent aluminum.” Right. Those are other examples of transparent aluminum. What’s your problem with this? There’s a aluminum in it and you can see through it, it’s transparent aluminum. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/11 "2018-02-22T01:25:29Z")
“Whose to say he didn’t invent the thing?” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/12 "2018-02-22T04:44:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Again, a compound that contains aluminum is not “transparent aluminum.” And if it is, then the aluminosilicate Gorilla Glass on millions of cell phones is “transparent aluminum” and the sapphire on some Apple devices is “transparent aluminum.” According to Memory-Alpha, the transparent aluminum described in Star Trek is apparently a compound consisting of hydrogen, accurentum (or perhaps actinium) and aluminum. > **[Transparent aluminum](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Transparent_aluminum)** > > Transparent aluminum was a construction material far stronger and much lighter than its predecessor, plexiglass. A one-inch thick sheet of transparent aluminum, measuring sixty feet by ten feet, was capable of withstanding the pressure of 18,000... ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/13 "2018-02-22T06:34:12Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > A nice tall glass of liquid hydrogen. Yum. Isn’t water actually hydrogen ash? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/14 "2018-02-22T07:03:39Z")
[Dihydrogen monoxide](http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/15 "2018-02-22T11:26:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Isn’t water actually hydrogen ash? Hydrogen rust. ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/16 "2018-02-22T14:08:35Z")
Something that has always bothered me about the film: why was it so important that the walls of the whale tank were transparent? It was so important that Scotty was willing to change history and give out the formula for transparent alumin **i** um. Why not just make it out of regular opaque alumin **i** um? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/17 "2018-02-22T14:15:13Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > Something that has always bothered me about the film: why was it so important that the walls of the whale tank were transparent? It was so important that Scotty was willing to change history and give out the formula for transparent alumin **i** um. > Why not just make it out of regular opaque alumin **i** um? Whales are intelligent. Would you want to be locked in a pitch dark cage? It’s doubtful any lights are waterproof. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/18 "2018-02-22T14:16:04Z")
I thought that the point was that they needed a very strong but lightweight material–and “transparent aluminum” is spacy-sounding gibberish, like “dilithum.” ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/19 "2018-02-22T17:02:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Whales are intelligent. Would you want to be locked in a pitch dark cage? It’s doubtful any lights are waterproof. No need for a roof, just rig up some Klingon floodlights above the tank. The whales weren’t in there very long. I always thought it was a very silly aspect of the story: Fish tanks are always see-through, therefore it’s absolutely critical that this emergency tank inside the Bird of Prey absolutely must be see-through too. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245/20 "2018-02-22T18:57:09Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > No need for a roof, just rig up some Klingon floodlights above the tank. The whales weren’t in there very long. > I always thought it was a very silly aspect of the story: Fish tanks are always see-through, therefore it’s absolutely critical that this emergency tank inside the Bird of Prey absolutely must be see-through too. Weird. Think about it. A critical moment of dialogue depended UTTERLY on the transparency of the tank walls. > [@Captain Montogomery Scott](#): > > Admiral, there be whales here! It just doesn’t work if Scotty can’t see into the tank. “Admiral, I think there be whales here. Yaar.” The tank had to be transparent; otherwise (A) you don’t get to see a nice CG transporter effect, and (B) Scotty has to say something not inane. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum/809245.md?page=2)