Okay so, I ordered about 2 pounds of zinc off of ebay from a good seller. At first I suspected it wasn't zinc because it was really soft. Zinc is a soft metal but is it that soft? I asked the seller and he insisted greatly that it was melted from zinc wheel weights, however, I think otherwise because of this reasons. I experimented on the metal. I suspected lead because it leaves a residue on my bare hands after handling and because it's a tiny bit harder than lead, I also did the sound test by dropping the ingot, it did not make a blunt sound but more of a "ding". So I ruled out lead. Next, I got some zinc from a melted penny. Since I heard zinc reacts with acid to produce hydrogen, I took some metal form the ingot and the zinc from the penny and placed it in vinegar. After 1 hour, the zinc from the penny was producing hydrogen and turning into a black powder while the other did nothing at all. After a few days The zinc was totally dissolved and the other metal was still perfectly fine. Next I did a hardness test, I could not easly dent or scratch the zinc from the penny but I was able to dent the other metal easily. it's harder than lead but softer than zinc. The metal is a shiny gray color. Does anyone here know what it could be? (I haven't tried to melt it because I don't want to create toxic fumes if it is something other than zinc.)
- posted
8 years ago