How can you tell a type of metal if you like at the metal object?

Answer 1

Check to see if the metal reacts to a magnet (has iron/is ferrous) If the metal is ferrous, you can perform a spark test on a grinder (this will show you how much carbon is present and the pattern of the sparks can be looked up to determine other properties.

If the metal is not ferrous, it could be bronze, brass, copper, tin, zinc, monel, silver, gold, platinum, stainless steel, aluminum or copper-nickle (CuNi).

If this is the case, you can look at the color of the metal. If it's "gold", it could be gold, brass or bronze (or manganese bronze, etc.). If it's gold, it will be very soft, ductile and maleable. If it's bronze or brass, it will be a dull gold and will crack if pounded on with a hammer. It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between bronze or brass, but bronze is usually darker.

If it is a dull silver, it could be silver, stainless steel, aluminum or zinc. If it's zinc, you can find out by putting it in a light acid like lemon juice or vinegar; it will "boil" or "foam". If it doesn't react, and it's very light, then it's probably aluminum. If it's heavy, it's platinum or white gold (a mix of platinum and gold). If it feels about the same weight as iron, then it could be nickle, silver or stainless steel. Stainless steel is very hard, and it's usually shinier than nickle or silver (unless polished). If it's in a large quantity, it's probably not silver, but you can check by hitting it with lemon juice. If it tarnishes, it's silver. If it doesn't tarnish, then it's nickle or stainless, and it's very hard to tell the two apart sometimes.

If it looks somewhere between stainless steel and brass, it's copper-nickle (CuNi) and could be either 90-10 or 70-30. If it looks like a lighter colored copper, it's 90-10; if it looks closer to stainless, it's probably 70-30.

Finally, there is copper...you'll know it when you see it, it looks just like a penny.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what you mean by "like at." Oh, and this would be a better question for chemistry or engineering.