Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Nickel or rhodium?

elementcollector1 - 25-10-2012 at 20:25

I've noticed that some trinkets are plated with rhodium (example http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FDBMIA/ref=ox_sc_sfl_ti...)
and some are plated with nickel. How do I tell which is which?

12AX7 - 25-10-2012 at 21:10

Hard plated nickel is actually pretty hard, but I'm betting rhodium is harder. See what scratches or abrades it? As far as chemical tests, a drop of dilute nitric would suffice: rhodium won't react.

Tim