 Another antique phonograph needle.
This is a different brand, one that claims to have an osmium tip welded on it (see below for packaging making this claim). It's still magnetic, though without breaking off the tip it's a bit hard to tell whether the tip itself is, or whether it's just the rest of the shaft that is attracted to the magnet.
Preliminary analysis by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials, University of Illinois (partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DEFG02-91-ER45439) indicates that there is absolutely no osmium in this needle either. Again, it could be that the osmium is only in the tip, which I may have missed, or that a plating obscured it. In this case the machine saw 57% iron, 43% copper.
Source: George (not 007) Lazenby
Contributor: George (not 007) Lazenby
Acquired: 30 August, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.5"
Purity: 0%
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