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Tin is the perfect metal for casting (tin soldiers for example). It melts at a fairly low temperature, so you can use simple molds, even molds made of special rubber. It's non-toxic, unlike lead. And it's shiny and doesn't tarnish. The only real problem is that it's a little bit expensive. Not terrible, but a whole lot more than the price of scrap zinc roof flashing I used to buy all the time. (Zinc is good for casting too, though not as good as tin.)
"Tin foil" used to actually be made of tin, but today its exclusively made of aluminum.
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 Lead-free fishing weights.
Melted down and allowed to cool in the standard graphite crucible used for several metal samples. Environmental concerns have prompted a switch from lead to tin for fishing sinkers.Purchased at Walmart in April 2002. Source originally suggested by Ed Pegg.
Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 24 April, 2002
Price: $14/10 bags of weights
Size: 1.25"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Fishing Weights
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 Crying bars.
The "Tin Cry" is an oft-described, seldom-heard phenomenon. If, it is claimed, you bend a bar of tin, it will "cry" as the crystal structure is disrupted. When NPR's Science Friday program asked to interview me about the Periodic Table Table, I decided it was time for the world to hear the tin cry live on the radio.
I had to make these bars in a hurry, before the kids woke up in the morning and needed to be fed, so I just poured out some silica sand and drew a line in it with my finger, then poured the molten tin into the groove, forming these crude bars. Then I bent them by hand and using a pair of pliers while holding them up to a microphone connected to a laptop.
Later I was able to make a super-high fidelity recording in the "dead end" studio at WGBH Boston, using the finest high sensitivity microphones available. My host family when I attended the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, Jane and Miles, are both sound engineers at WGBH, and they kindly set up a recording session to capture this important element sound. That's the sound currently associated with the element: The first one I did wasn't nearly as good.
I'll let you be the judge of whether they "cry" or not: Personally I'd call it more of a crackle-crackle-crackle sound. In any case, click the speaker icon to hear it. I would be curious to hear from anyone who has created a better crying sound from tin.
Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 16 July, 2002
Price: $14/10 bags of weights
Size: 3"
Purity: >95%
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Sample from the RGB Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.
To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.
The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):
Source: Max Whitby of RGB
Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.9%
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Sample from the Everest Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gases) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.
To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.
Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%
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 Tin Coins.
These are tin coins from Warut's homeland of Thailand, sent to him by his grandmother. They demonstrate the fact that if tin is kept fairly cold (less than 13C or so) for a period of months or years, it will slowly convert into the "gray tin" allotrope, which is brittle and crumbles. The coins on the left, from 1946, have obviously spent a few winters in a cold climate, while the ones near the top, from 1950, have not. The very shiny one on the right is also from 1946, which proves that it's temperature, not age that determines whether they go bad: Tin is highly corrosion resistant and will stay shiny for a long time, as long as you don't let it get too cold. Here is an interesting article about gray tin and allotropes in general.
Source: Warut Roonguthai
Contributor: Warut Roonguthai
Acquired: 21 June, 2003
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.6"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Coins
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Tin fish for Popular Science.
For the September 2003 article of my Popular Science column I created this fish under the most difficult possible circumstances: (1) I was 2000 miles from my workshop, (2) I had to do it at the same time I was preparing to be on stage with Steve Jobs to talk about Mathematica V5 in a keynote address, and (3) I had to melt the metal using only a microwave oven, a grinding stone, and a casserole pot. If you want to learn more, you'll have to wait for the issue to come out!
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 25 June, 2003
Price: $24
Size: 5"
Purity: 95%
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Silver solder.
This is the type of tin/silver solder I used to make the above fish. It's lovely stuff, just a bit expensive!
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 24 July, 2003
Price: $10
Size: 2.5"
Purity: 95%
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Lead-free solder.
This is a different brand of lead-free solder which is a good bit cheaper than tin/silver solder. It melts at about the same temperature (419F) and claims to be stronger. The package does not list what the composition is other than to say there is absolutely no lead in it: I'll test it by XRF when I get a chance. This stuff makes a fine casting metal.
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 24 July, 2003
Price: $6
Size: 2.5"
Purity: >90%
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Link in multi-metal chain.
I had been wondering about how hard it would be to make a multi-part graphite mold with which I could cast chain links around each other. That is, given an existing link, cast a new one interlinked with it. This turns out to be quite do-able: Here is the mold I made (using my drill press as a vertical mill and a round-ended router bit):
 
In case you ever want to try this, I'll give you an important hint: The third link is the real test, not the second one.
Using this mold I have cast a chain out of all the metals I can easily cast. Click the Sample Group link below to see all the links together.
This chain (counted as one sample) is the 600th sample added to my collection.
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 9 August, 2003
Text Updated: 20 February, 2006
Price: $6/pound
Size: 3"
Purity: >90%
Sample Group: Multi-metal Chain
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Link in multi-metal chain.
I had been wondering about how hard it would be to make a multi-part graphite mold with which I could cast chain links around each other. That is, given an existing link, cast a new one interlinked with it. This turns out to be quite do-able: Here is the mold I made (using my drill press as a vertical mill and a round-ended router bit):
In case you ever want to try this, I'll give you an important hint: The third link is the real test, not the second one.
Using this mold I have cast a chain out of all the metals I can easily cast. Click the Sample Group link below to see all the links together.
This chain (counted as one sample) is the 600th sample added to my collection.
Source: eBay seller kingendymion
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 9 August, 2003
Text Updated: 20 February, 2006
Price: $10/pound
Size: 3"
Purity: 99.99%
Sample Group: Multi-metal Chain
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Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This ingot shows two kinds of surfaces, one where the metal cooled in contact with a graphite mold, and the top that was in contact with the air. The top surface is particularly interesting in that it shows the degree of contraction when the metal cools and sometimes crystal structures that give the surface a wrinkled appearance as in copper or tin.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 6 March, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: See Listing
Size: 4"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: RGB Samples
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Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This ingot is designed to show what the surface of the metal looks like when hammered: By comparing with similar hammered ingots of other metals an idea of the hardness and working characteristics of the metal is given. (We use approximately the same hammering force on each ingot, so lead will show much deeper hammer marks than zinc, for example.)
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 6 March, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: See Listing
Size: 4"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: RGB Samples
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Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This "crystal nest" is formed by allowing a cup of the molten metal to half-solidify, then pouring the liquid center off. Different metals form surprisingly diverse types of crystals using this very simple technique. The size and shape of the crystals is very sensitive to the purity of the material: This bullet lead is relatively low purity and therefor forms relatively small crystals: As a rule the higher the purity, the larger the crystals, with the most spectacular example being bismuth of 99.99% or better purity.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 6 March, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: See Listing
Size: 3"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: RGB Samples
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Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This sample shows the appearance of the metal when dropped into a bucket of water. The metal is taken to just barely above its melting point, then poured in from close to the water surface, a potentially dangerous operation particularly in the case of aluminum (which can form hydrogen gas that may explode). If the temperature is too high the metal fragments into an almost powder form, so it is a delicate matter to get just the right conditions for the formation of smooth shapes like this.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 6 March, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: See Listing
Size: 1"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: RGB Samples
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Foundry ingot.
This ingot is one of a bunch I bought from Hall Mark Metals (who also sell on eBay, see source link). These ingots are intended to be melted down for casting or alloying. Tin is an absolutely beautiful metal for casting, just a little on the expensive side.
Source: eBay seller hallmarkmetals
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 April, 2004
Price: $4.60/pound
Size: 12"
Purity: 99.95%
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Museum-grade sample.
In early 2004 Max Whitby and I started selling individual element samples identical or similar to the samples we use in the museum displays we build. These are top-quality samples presented in attractive forms appropriate to the particular element. They are for sale from Max's website and also on eBay where you will find an ever-changing selection of samples (click the link to see the current listings).
This cast ball is designed to show what the surface of the metal looks like when hammered: By comparing with similar hammered balls of other metals an idea of the hardness and working characteristics of the metal is given. (We use approximately the same hammering force on each ball, so lead will show much deeper hammer marks than zinc, for example.)
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 1 May, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: See Listing
Size: 2"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: RGB Samples
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Mini element collection.
This is a nice little set from the 1960's. The enclosed price list indicates it cost a few dollars, and the enclosed mercury sample indicates it predates current environmental concerns! Here's a picture of the whole 2-box set:
Source: Blake Ferris
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 July, 2004
Price: $61/set
Size: 1"
Purity: >98%
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Lead-free fishing weights.
Environmental concerns have prompted a switch from lead to other metals for fishing sinkers. Click the sample group link below to see what metals have been used.
Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 July, 2004
Price: $1.50
Size: 0.5"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Fishing Weights
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Tin soldier.
Casting tin soldiers is a classic hobby of the past, not much in vogue right now. I got a set of old molds on eBay, and interestingly the instructions say that pure tin is the ideal metal to use, resulting in clean, detailed, and bendable figures. But, they say, pure tin is much too expensive to use, so they have a lot of information about how to deal with tin/lead and other cheaper alloys. Tin is more expensive than lead, but unless you're planning to cast a heck of a lot of soldiers, it's not that expensive. Giving current thinking on the toxicity of lead, it's probably a price worth paying.
Source: eBay seller hallmarkmetals
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 April, 2004
Price: $4.60/pound
Size: 2"
Purity: 99.95%
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Caterpillar.
Ethan Currens, the contributor of this sample, cast it himself:"The bird and caterpillar molds are both gypsum ceramic molds that I found at a place called Urban Ore in Berkeley, where they basically go through junk yards, pick stuff out that people might care about, and sell it at ridiculously low prices. My particular molds were about 15 cents each, and made in the 70's. The caterpillar is 97% tin, 3% copper, burnished with some zinc on the outside via electrolysis." It's pretty cute too.
Source: Ethan Currens
Contributor: Ethan Currens
Acquired: 28 November, 2005
Text Updated: 19 November, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 3"
Purity: 97%
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Bird.
See sample above for where the mold for this bird came from. Ethan adds further information about the bird in particular:"The bird is about 55% tin, 25% zinc, 2% copper, and the remaining 18% bismuth. I was going for a 'golden bird' type of appearance without having to do any further modifications after the initial cast, which I was pretty happy with. Tin/copper doesn't get along too well with bismuth by itself, so I put in a bit of zinc. I oxidized the molten mix for a bit on low flame, so I had some bismuth trioxide already, heated the mold so it would cool more slowly and have more time to oxidize the surface, and poured it in. Voila! I spend way too much time testing this stuff out in my garage, or so my teachers would have it." Shame on any teacher who thinks this isn't a good way to spend time.
Source: Ethan Currens
Contributor: Ethan Currens
Acquired: 28 November, 2005
Text Updated: 19 November, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 3"
Purity: 55%
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Tin soldier on horseback.
This is another tin soldier (see above for more about tin soldiers). I made this one because the aspect ratio of a standing tin soldier is no good if you want something to fill a square area. This mounted soldier was the perfect shape to fill the tin tile in a periodic table poster I'm working on.
I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.
Source: eBay seller hallmarkmetals
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 30 January, 2006
Text Updated: 4 May, 2007
Price: $4.60/pound
Size: 2.5"
Purity: 99.95%
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Element coin.
Dave Hamric sells element samples under the name Metallium. He's developed a line of coins struck out of various common and uncommon metals: They are quite lovely, and very reasonably priced, considering the difficulty of creating some of them.
Here is the back side of this coin (click either picture to see it larger):
Click the Sample Group link below to see many other coins made of various elements, or click the link to his website above if you want to buy one like this.
Source: Dave Hamric
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 1 December, 2006
Text Updated: 14 January, 2007
Price: $7
Size: 0.75"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: Coins
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Old tin coin.
This tin coin is a result of a trip to Japan, where I stopped at a coin shop to ask the owner if he had any coins made out of unusual metals. After initially claiming not, perhaps to get me to go away, he actually came up with several, including this pretty tin coin.
Source: Japan
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 20 November, 2007
Text Updated: 21 November, 2007
Price: $1
Size: 0.5"
Purity: >90%
Sample Group: Coins
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Finezinn tin cup.
I know the purity of this cup is 95% because it's molded into the bottom as a mark of quality. "Zinn" is the German word for tin, so we know this is a cup made of 95% "fine" or pure tin.
Source: Ivan Timokhin
Contributor: Ivan Timokhin
Acquired: 8 December, 2007
Text Updated: 9 December, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 4"
Purity: 95%
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Tin soldier horse mold.
This is an aluminum mold for making a tin horse (to go along with a tin soldier of course). The black is soot, put their intentionally with a candle to make the tin release from the mold more easily.
Source: Unknown eBay seller
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 8 February, 2009
Text Updated: 8 February, 2009
Price: $1
Size: 4"
Purity: 0%
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Casting tin.
Tin that came with some tin soldier molds on eBay I got a long time ago, but only recently photographed.
Source: Unknown eBay seller
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 8 February, 2009
Text Updated: 8 February, 2009
Price: $1
Size: 3"
Purity: 99%
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Two kinds of tin in one.
This is an odd thing: A piece of tin showing both the alpha and beta tin allotropes in one piece.
Source: Anonymous
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 28 February, 2009
Text Updated: 1 March, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 1.5"
Purity: 99%
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Mini tin-lead casting alloy ingots.
I'm pretty sure this is some kind of tin-lead alloy, it came with a set of tin soldier molds I got on eBay years ago. You're meant to break off as much as you need for the soldiers you want to cast. The whole thing is tiny, each bar is less than half an inch wide.
Source: eBay
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 28 February, 2009
Text Updated: 1 March, 2009
Price: Unknown
Size: 3"
Purity: <80%
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Electrochemical machining bit.
This is a cheap peace sign earring from the mall, probably made mostly of tin, which I have soldered to a short copper pipe and then used as a bit to carve a (rather blurry) peace sign into a piece of solid steel (shown under iron). The fact that you can set tin head to head against steel and have the tin win is remarkable. It's possible because the machining happens entirely due to electrochemical etching (like electroplating in reverse), not mechanical force. In fact the bit never touches the work: If it does there's a short circuit and the process stops.
The method is called electrochemical machining, and it's described in my July, 2009 Popular Science column.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 28 June, 2009
Text Updated: 29 June, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 0.5"
Purity: >50%
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Tin soldier mold.
This is a relatively modern tin soldier mold from eBay, made of silicone rubber. These work better and are easier to use than metal molds.
Source: Unknown eBay seller
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 31 October, 2009
Text Updated: 31 October, 2009
Price: $1
Size: 4"
Purity: 0%
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Field's metal.
Field's metal is a low-melting-point alloy, which will melt in hot water. It's named after Simon Quellen Field, who runs scitoys.com, a great site for educational and scientific toys and kits. He sells this alloy in the form of lengths of metal-filled plastic tubing, which you can easily melt or cut it out of.
Source: Simon Quellen Field
Contributor: Simon Quellen Field
Acquired: 13 February, 2007
Text Updated: 14 February, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 5"
Composition: InBiSn
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SnSe sample.
From the source:This sample of tin selenide was prepared in the course of semiconductor research, about 35 years ago. Many selenides, sulfides, and tellurides are all candidate semiconductor materials, due to their small band gap energies. That this is a brittle and crystalline intermetallic can be clearly seen from the surface texture and fracture marks.
Source: Ethan Currens
Contributor: Ethan Currens
Acquired: 8 May, 2007
Text Updated: 1 March, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Composition: SnSe
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Field's metal crust.
Nice smooth samples of the elements are boring if you ask me. They just don't make for interesting photographs, and the more symmetrical they are the less interesting it is to see them rotated around a full circle (which is how I photograph all new samples these days). This crust of Field's Metal (named after Simon Quellen Field, who runs scitoys.com) is a perfect example: I scraped it from the side of a jar at Simon's house, and it's got a much more interesting texture than a plain melted piece. Plus if you look at the rotation video you can see a completely different kind of surface on the other side.
Source: Simon Quellen Field
Contributor: Simon Quellen Field
Acquired: 4 September, 2007
Text Updated: 6 September, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Composition: InBiSn
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Stannite.
Description from the source:
Stannite (Cu2 Fe Sn S4 tet.), San Jose` Mine, Oruro, Bolivia. Yellowish masses or pseudocrystals with prismatic dark gray Zinkenite. 1,6x1,4x1,2 cm; 5 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.6"
Composition: Cu2FeSnS4
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Cassiterite.
Description from the source:
Cassiterite (Sn O2 tet.), Viloco Mine, La Paz, Bolivia. Good quality crystals. 2,5x2x1 cm; 12 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 10 January, 2009
Text Updated: 10 January, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 1"
Composition: SnO2
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Tin copy of iridium slab. (External Sample)
Look under iridium and you will find a picture of Oliver Sacks holding a 1.7-pound slab of iridium I helped him have made in New Jersey. This is a copy of that slab cast in tin years later, hopefully the first of several copies made in different metals. I have a silicone rubber mold I made of the original and over time hope to make more and better copies. This one is not very good.
Location: Oliver Sacks' Office
Photographed: 28 February, 2009
Text Updated: 16 March, 2009
Size: 2.5"
Purity: 99.9%
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