Metal Electrodes
Set of 6

How to identify: You have received 6 different metal electrodes. Do you know how to identify them? This simple guideline will help you to identify the electrodes in your set. Warning: Metal electrodes have sharp edges and may cause injury. Please handle them with caution and use gloves. Magnesium is a flammable metal. Magnesium fire cannot be extinguished by water. All metals may produce harmful gases and chemicals while in contact with water or electricity.

1. Copper (Cu): is the only metal electrode in your collection with red/orange color.
2. Magnesium (Mg): is the lightest metal electrode in your collection. It is not laminated by any plastic. The surface of magnesium is not smooth.
3. Iron (Fe): is the only metal in your collection that can be attracted by magnet.
   
   Now separate the first three from the rest of your collection and start to identify the remaining 3 electrodes.
    
4. Aluminum (AL): is the lightest metal among the remaining electrodes.
5. Steel has a shiny surface and is laminated with white plastic.
6. Zinc (Zn): is bluish gray color, has a smooth surface, feels heavy (high density, similar to iron and copper).

If you hold one end of any metal electrode on the edge of a table and then try to vibrate the other end, the frequency of vibration will help you identify the metal.

1. Zinc does not vibrate at all
2. Copper vibrates slowly (Very low frequency)
3. Steel vibrates faster than copper
4. Aluminum vibrates faster than steel.
5. Iron vibrates faster than Aluminum
6. Magnesium vibrates faster than all

If you try to scratch one metal using the other, you will see that steel is the hardest metal. it can scratch all other metals, but no metal can scratch steel.

Iron is the second hardest metal. It can scratch all metals other than steel

Copper is the third hardest metal. It can scratch all metals other than steel and Iron.

Magnesium is the 4th hardest metal. It can only scratch zinc and aluminum.

Aluminum is the 5th hardest metal. It can only scratch the zinc.

Zinc is the softest metal in your set.

that the string is well stretched.

Other methods of identification:

Metal electrodes may also be identified based on the density and the chemical properties of each specific metal. Metals may also be identified based on their conductivity of heat and electricity. You may use a combination of different methods to identify the metals in your collection. For example you may identify iron by magnet, copper by color, Zinc by vibration, steel by hardness, magnesium by weight and aluminum by its light weight and smooth surface.