Okay so, I ordered about 2 pounds of zinc off of ebay from a good seller.
At first I suspected it wasn't zinc because it was really soft. Zinc is a
soft metal but is it that soft? I asked the seller and he insisted greatly
that it was melted from zinc wheel weights, however, I think otherwise
because of this reasons. I experimented on the metal. I suspected lead
because it leaves a residue on my bare hands after handling and because
it's a tiny bit harder than lead, I also did the sound test by dropping
the ingot, it did not make a blunt sound but more of a "ding". So I ruled
out lead. Next, I got some zinc from a melted penny. Since I heard zinc
reacts with acid to produce hydrogen, I took some metal form the ingot and
the zinc from the penny and placed it in vinegar. After 1 hour, the zinc
from the penny was producing hydrogen and turning into a black powder
while the other did nothing at all. After a few days The zinc was totally
dissolved and the other metal was still perfectly fine. Next I did a
hardness test, I could not easly dent or scratch the zinc from the penny
but I was able to dent the other metal easily. it's harder than lead but
softer than zinc. The metal is a shiny gray color. Does anyone here know
what it could be? (I haven't tried to melt it because I don't want to
create toxic fumes if it is something other than zinc.)

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