My pet bird might have zinc poisoning (results coming back next week) and until then I want to remove any toys which have zinc in them (some have metal clips for instance). I know some are stainless steel because they're not magnetic, but how do I distinguish between zinc and other metals, without actually destroying the toy? I don't want to have to remove all of his toys because he's so attached to them.
2007-09-20 23:16:23 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Firstly, your assumption that aluminium is a magnetic metal and later that stainless steel is not are both incorrect. In reality, stainless steel is a magnetic and aluminium is not. You can test this by taking a magnet (such as those that are used to stick notes on the front door of a fridge) and see if it sticks to a stainless steel item (eg. the blade of a knife) and if it does the same on an aluminium surface (eg. the frame of a metal window).
Considering how you can tell whether something is made out of zinc, it wouldn't be easy without chemical analysis. However, it is not likely that your bird would get zinc poisoning by coming in contact with a zinc surface. To draw an analog with humans, lead poisoning takes place when food of some type is eaten containing compounds of lead and not by touching (let alone eating) solid metallic lead.
2007-09-20 23:39:43 · answer #1 · answered by Pelion 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
are you sure?
Zinc is not magnetic
aluminum is not magnetic
stanless steel is magnetic
I don't think that your bird has taken the zinc from the toys (assuming that is zinc poisoning), unless a galvanized metal is clearly visible (easy to spot).
You should remove all the zinc galvanized metals.
2007-09-21 10:00:09 · answer #2 · answered by scientific_boy3434 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Neither zinc nor aluminium is magnetic.
To address your plight ...
Unfortunately there is no ready way of detecting zinc without destroying the toy.
2007-09-21 06:44:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
sorry to tell you - aluminium is not magnetic as well
2007-09-21 06:29:15 · answer #4 · answered by Martin S 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
by colour,shine and chemical propeties
2007-09-21 06:26:25 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋