Fools Gold

[shomer42]

I have found a lump of something which is metallic on a beach in Cornwall. It has a rounded shape, is fairly hard and very heavy and is about the size of a chicken egg. It seems slightly gold in colour. I thought it might be fools gold but then realised it is very heavy and when I scrape it there is no smell of sulfur. It is not magnetic. Any ideas as to what it is???

[dundurn]

No real idea but sounds intriguing.

Is it soft enough to cut with a knife? Lead or lead alloy is softer than gold.

How dense is it? I'd suggest putting it into a measuring jug and then filling to a known mark, then remove the item and see how much water is in the jug - the difference will give you a volume. Weigh the item on some digital cooking scales - they should be sensitive enough. Divide weight in grammes by volume in mls. Gold has a value of 19.3 g per ml; lead is just over 11.3g per ml. That should tell you whether you should be calling in the bank or a plumber!

Good luck

[shomer42]

Thank you, I will get out the measuring jug!

[heathfield]

There's a table that you might find handy here. (Divide the figures by 1000 to get gms/ml).

It could be a mix of metals, and so results may not correspond to the figures in the list