I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard. I
tried, and apparently it's not silver. What simple test can I perform for
aluminum? Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it shines
up pretty good. It feels heavy. It does not react whatsoever to a magnet.
My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?

Pretty neat for two bucks. I'll polish it up, and use it for our table as a
nut tray.

Steve

What do you mean peanut?
On 2011-12-27, Steve B wrote:
I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard. I
tried, and apparently it's not silver. What simple test can I perform for
aluminum? Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it shines
up pretty good. It feels heavy. It does not react whatsoever to a magnet.
My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?

Pretty neat for two bucks. I'll polish it up, and use it for our table as a
nut tray.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
...
I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard. I
tried, and apparently it's not silver. What simple test can I perform for
aluminum? Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it
shines up pretty good. It feels heavy. It does not react whatsoever to a
magnet. My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?

Pretty neat for two bucks. I'll polish it up, and use it for our table as
a nut tray.

Steve

Chemixcal tests damage the finish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes
For historical authenticity the test must be done naked.

jsw

On Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:52:22 -0800, Steve B wrote:

I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard.
I tried, and apparently it's not silver. What simple test can I perform
for aluminum? Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it
shines up pretty good. It feels heavy. It does not react whatsoever
to a magnet. My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?
....

It's fairly easy to do an accurate density test if you have an
accurate scale. Density is a weight/volume ratio. Weigh the item on
the accurate scale (wi); weigh a container of water (ww); suspend the
item freely in the water and again weigh the container of water (ws).
The volume of the item, vi, displaces vi cc of water, so ws - ww in
grams is equal to the volume of the item in cc's. So item density
is wi/(ws-ww), which you can compare to aluminum's 2.7 density.

An example of the process (but without much explanation) is seen
in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYdSEAm-7uI

--
jiw

"Ignoramus18557" wrote in message
...
What do you mean peanut?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

What do you mean what do I mean? ;-)

Steve

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...

"Steve B" wrote in message
...
I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard.
I tried, and apparently it's not silver. What simple test can I perform
for aluminum? Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it
shines up pretty good. It feels heavy. It does not react whatsoever to
a magnet. My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?

Pretty neat for two bucks. I'll polish it up, and use it for our table
as a nut tray.

Steve

Chemixcal tests damage the finish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes
For historical authenticity the test must be done naked.

jsw

Already run through the specific gravity test in my mind.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
.. .

Chemixcal tests damage the finish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes
For historical authenticity the test must be done naked.
jsw

Already run through the specific gravity test in my mind.

Steve

Try it on known samples first. It isn't as easy as you might think to obtain
an accurate result when the important value is a small fraction of the total
weight. If your weighing scale permits, the better technique is to suspend
the object by thread in air and then water. The specific gravity is the
weight in air divided by the weight -lost- in water, which equals the volume
in metric. Measuring the overflow is tricky and likely inaccurate.

I can often identify metal by how cold it feels, due to its thermal
conductivity. Again, compare the unknown to samples.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/th...als-d_858.html

A drop of lye (NaOH) will make aluminum bubble, and turn grey to black if
it's alloyed with copper. Lye attacks zinc too but zinc is dense and
'warmer' like steel. Your peanut could be a mix of Al and Zn such as Zamak.
Lye has little or no effect on other metals.

jsw

On Dec 26, 10:52*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I bought something neat at a swap meet. *It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. *Two pieces. *It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

I Googled testing for silver, and they said use a dab of plain mustard. *I
tried, and apparently it's not silver. *What simple test can I perform for
aluminum? *Apparently if it is aluminum, it is a harder alloy, as it *shines
up pretty good. *It feels heavy. *It does not react whatsoever to a magnet.
My guess is aluminum.

Simple test for aluminum?

Pretty neat for two bucks. *I'll polish it up, and use it for our table as a
nut tray.

Steve

http://www.koslow.com

On Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:26:45 -0800, Steve B wrote:
"Ignoramus18557" wrote...
What do you mean peanut?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

What do you mean what do I mean? ;-)

Well, earlier (26 Dec 2011 19:52:22), you wrote:

I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

which makes it sound like a piece of metal instead of a piece of
food like your link points to. You confused or what?

Do the two pieces fit together like the halves of a peanut
shell?

--
jiw

"James Waldby" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:26:45 -0800, Steve B wrote:
"Ignoramus18557" wrote...
What do you mean peanut?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

What do you mean what do I mean? ;-)

Well, earlier (26 Dec 2011 19:52:22), you wrote:

I bought something neat at a swap meet. It is a peanut, 8.5" long, 3.5"
wide, and 2.5" high. Two pieces. It is fairly shiny on the inside.
Absolutely no identifying marks on it.

which makes it sound like a piece of metal instead of a piece of
food like your link points to. You confused or what?

Do the two pieces fit together like the halves of a peanut
shell?

--
jiw

They are seamed on the horizontal with a lip on one that fits into a
recession on the other half.

I don't believe I have ever seen a REAL 8.5" peanut.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
.. .
...
I don't believe I have ever seen a REAL 8.5" peanut.

Steve

You better hope the elephant who lost it doesn't read R.C.M.

jsw

Steve B wrote:

They are seamed on the horizontal with a lip on one that fits into a
recession on the other half.

I don't believe I have ever seen a REAL 8.5" peanut.


You sure that isn't Billy Carter? ;-)


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.