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
7 years ago