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Author: Subject: I broke a piece of metal - what was it?
Yttrium2
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[*] posted on 2-6-2020 at 20:24
I broke a piece of metal - what was it?


why did it break so easily? it looked like brass, it was about an 1/8th of an inch thick.


Wondering, what is an easy way of determining the metal, and or its constituent alloys?

-- and last but most importantly, (I almost forgot) -- what about the metal made it break so easily? What about its structure, composition, -- physical form...



[Edited on 6/3/2020 by Yttrium2]
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symboom
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[*] posted on 2-6-2020 at 20:58


I think aluminum copper alloy is brittle



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B(a)P
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[*] posted on 2-6-2020 at 21:34


Can you send a picture? Particularly of the fracture? Have you tried a scratch test to assess hardness?
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sodium_stearate
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[*] posted on 3-6-2020 at 06:28
please post a picture


A picture would help explain a lot.

Have a close look at the fracture.

If the metal is some kind of zinc alloy (aka "pot metal")
then it would be relatively weak and fairly easily
broken by hand.

When that type of metal fractures, it most always has
a distinctive grainy look where it breaks.

So, please let us see it. The color and the type of
break can help explain a lot.




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Heptylene
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[*] posted on 3-6-2020 at 07:53


Try to dissolve it in HCl. There solution can have a color indicative of it's composition.
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