JustStuit Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I have 5 g of a metal. What are some tests I can do to determine what types of metals are in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustStuit Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 The only thing I could think of was magnetism - it is magnetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkworm Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 So you have 5 grams of a metal or 5 grams of metals? Is it pure or is it an oxide? I like to keep things simple until they can't be. If it's just a metal I'd just check it's density. You already know it's mass, just figure out its volume (if you have a graduated cylinder this is very simple) and check it against a list of densities. Be careful though, if it's a group 1 or 2 metal you may put yourself in danger by measuring its volume. Especially the heavier ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustStuit Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 5 grams of a metal. I'm off to check the density now. I think it's stable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkworm Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Okay. Good luck. I was hoping to get a list of densities from webelements, but I'm not smart enough to figure out how to get a number and not a graph. If you don't have any lists just throw me the number and I'll give you what's in that area on my periodic table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFC Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 You can shoot it with an X-ray and it will bounce back.You see the secterum that bounce back and you can tell the what kind of medal it is. If you have an X-ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 if the metals solid, then yes a simple water displacement to establish it`s volume over mass is a great idea, a borax bead test maybe helpfull too or a flame test. but basicly it`ll come down to a process of elimination, sometimes establishing what it ISN`T can be the only tool left where there`s a lack of hi-tech expensive equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanJ Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I say a flame test and then maybe testing its activity with some acids - should give you a rough idea of the element. After that you can use some other tests to identify the metal using what you have left over from the pevious tests Cheers, Ryan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Probably the most important bit of information in trying to find out what it's made of is "where did you get it?". If you found it in the street it probably isn't anything rare or expensive. If it came from a bottle labeled "zinc" then it's not unreasonable to test for zinc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustStuit Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 BTW judging by the density it is either iron or some compound. My teacher said it probably was iron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primarygun Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 The only thing I could think of was magnetism - it is magnetic. I always forget this for magnetic metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 well there`s only 4 elements naturaly magnet responsive like that, and happily they`re all transitional elements of the sort that give really great color results for identification with very simple reagents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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