REALLY strange metal

[rastinirv]

I thought this was just a bit of lead slag, but noticed it wasn't soft and bendy like it usually is. In fact it's brittle, and broke pretty easily. What's inside is -- no kidding -- one of the shiniest surfaces I've ever seen, like chrome mirror times 10. Any idea what the heck it could be? It's fascinating. The camera doesn't come close to capturing how shiny it is. The original piece is about the size of a quarter. Also, it's nonmagnetic

 

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[bigfoot1]

could be zink..

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is zinc -- which is a notoriously brittle metal, and I've seen freshly-broken zinc bars that have the same extraorinarily reflective flat fracturing, because zinc tends to break along its internal crystal faces.

 

[rastinirv]

Thanks! So the question now is: is what I found naturally occurring or was it some kind of melted slag? It was found in a schoolyard in Maryland contiguous to a Civil War fort.

 

[relicmeister]

Interesting! I work with Germanium, used in Infrared optics, and when it breaks the edges are brilliantly reflective like zinc if not more-so. I don't know what form
the material is in nature as I've only seen it as furnished lens blanks.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your find, a puddle-shaped blob, is not "natural" -- as in, a zinc nugget. See the photo of naturally-occuring zinc, here: Zinc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Your find's internal crystal structure shows it is highly pure zinc, which almost never occurs in nature. (The most common form of zinc ore is 60-62% zinc.)

Relicmeister made an interesting suggestion, Germanium. So I did some research on that metal. It was rare prior to 1945, and is mostly used as a semiconductor in electronics. On the other hand, zinc has been an extremely plentiful (and thus, quite inexpensive) metal, for literally thousands of years. Example: ever since ancient times, brass contains about 25-30 % zinc. It is so plentiful that it is much cheaper than copper -- which is why US pennies are now 99% zinc. Civil War US Parrott artillery shell fuzes were made of zinc, as a cost-saving alternative to brass (which is about 75% copper). Germanium is far more expensive than zinc, and as the electronic semiconductors indicate, tends to be used in tiny amount, rather than in bulky bars and rods like zinc commonly is So, in view of these various facts, I think it is much more likely that your melted puddle of metal is zinc rather than Germanium. But of course, I could be wrong. That has happened before, many times. Just ask my wife.

 

[rastinirv]

Thanks to all of you for your input!

 

[Broken knee]

Did the school have a print shop? Mine did and they made there own moveable type from zinc. HH
BK

 

[rastinirv]

Did the school have a print shop? Mine did and they made there own moveable type from zinc. HH
BK

That's an interesting question. I kind of doubt this particular school has a print shop, but I could be wrong. It's K-12 now, but for most of its existence was just an elementary school.