2007-07-22 05:22:44 · 3 answers · asked by Marzouk 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
I have used an "alloy analyzer" when I needed to identify unknown pieces of metal or confirm something as 316 stainless steel. Alloy analyzers work based on x-ray florescent principals. If you don’t want to buy one, you can rent one or find a lab that has one to send your stuff to.
Alloy analyzers have been around for over 20 years. They were originally sold by Texas Nuclear. They are now sold by Thermo and work very nicely. The newest model is Niton XLt 800. It is designed for rapid identification and chemistry of metal alloy composition and grade verification for applications including quality control, scrap sorting, positive material identification and failure analysis.
2007-07-23 13:16:40 · answer #1 · answered by Metallic stuff 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are simple kits with a few chemicals and instruction leaflets for detecting the common metals. You can also use density differences, magnetic properties, electrical conductivity etc., to identify some metals.
There are portable spectrometers and x-ray Fluorescence based equipment for non-destructive identification of metals.
2007-07-22 05:31:58 · answer #2 · answered by Swamy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a few ways to do this. One is to digest the metal into a solution (using strong oxidizing acids) and then analyze the soluble ions with ion chromatography or atomic absorption spectroscopy.
If you want to analyze the metal directly then you need something like X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS, also known as ESCA), or Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis.
2007-07-22 05:29:43 · answer #3 · answered by Fly On The Wall 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋