The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-01-06
THE METALS.

THE METALS.
Iatri.sae valae se Irsa-Csler Opacity
weight-Ducsnity-H HarAness-Petassiua-
Anoys-wirs-Au.ai.
If the question were put to nine men
out of ten, What are the metals found
or extracted from foreign substances
on this earth OF ours, and what is their
number?" most probably an accurate
reply would not be instantly given.
After little thinking over it, it is prob
able that nisse different metals might be
named-namely, gold, silver. iron.
copper, lead, tin, zinc. mercury and
platinum. Instead of nine there are
over forty metals. Indeed. it is be-
lieved that there may be as many as
sirtv-siI. OF these. gold, silver, plat
inum and mercury are known as the
cause they do not rust in the air at or
dinary temperature.
Next come the more important base
Cor readily oxydizable) metals, among
which iron, which can least be spared
by civilized nations, takes the lead. In
valuable as god is for currency, 1t is
far less useful than iron.
With the exception of mercury, all
metals are solid at the usual tempera-
ture of the air. With the exception of
gold, copper, calcium and strontium,
the metals are more or less white, with
q tendency to blue or gray. When re-
duced to q state of minute division, the
metallic luster is lost, but the color re-
mains. AL metals are good conductors
of heat and electricity, although in very
unequal degrees.
The opacity Of metals is remarkable,
and gold excepted, they do not trans
NIT light, even when reduced to very
thin leaves. 1t has been found that
gold-leaf, which is the two-hundred
thousandth part of an inch thick. suffers
light to pass through it, and it has a
green color.
All the metals are heavier than water,
except sodium, potassium and a!lumi-
mum. Platinum is the heaviest, and
gold ranks next.
Some metals (such as lead, tin, cop
per and iron) emit peculiar and disa-
greeable smell. One-hslf of them are
ductile and malleable, and the other
half brittle. Gold is the most ductile
and the most malleable; iron is the most
tenacious, and titanium the hardest oi
metals in their native state. Titanium.
discovered in 1871, is rare and little
used in science or industry.
The elasticity and sonorousness OF
metals are generally associated with
their degree of hardness. But there
are not many metals which by them
| selves are either very elastic or sonor-
GUS. Some alloys, as those of copper
and tin, possess these properties in q
high degree.
An the metals are fusible, though at
widely different degrees OF tempera-
ture. Some of them, such as mercury,
arsenic, zinc, cadmium, etc., are also
volatile.
There is no uniformity in metals, as
regards weight or specific gravity.
the heaviest bodies known in nature,
are twenty times heacier than water,
lithium, potassium and sodium are light.
er. You may knead potassium and
sodium with the finger, and mark lead
with the finger-nail. Nearly all the
other metals are hard. Then, while
iron, gold, silver and copper require
| great force for their disintegration, an
| timony, bismuth and arsenic are 90 brit
tie that they can easily be pulverized in
a mortar. Taking iron and lead as rep.
rcsenting the two extremes Of tenacity,
an iron wire will sustain weight TWEEN
ty-six times as heavy as leaden wire
of the same diameter.
Potassium. one of the alkaline met.
ais, was discovered early in the present
century by Sir Humphrey Davy, who
thus proved that potass was not q SIM
pie body, as previously supposed. 1t is
of a bluish-white color, and has q
strong metallic luster. Its affinity for
oxygen is so greet that on exposure to
the air it instantly becomes covered
with film of oxide. Potassium, as
already mentioned, floats on water, alb
sorbing oxygen therefrom, and break
ing into brilliant, violent flame. The
burning metal rapidly swims about in
the water, finally exploding with an ex-
plosion of steam. It has to be kept in
some fluid, such as purified petroleum
| or naphtha, which contains no oxygen.
Sodium. also discovered by Davy, is a
\ metal ubJafusd from soda
| None of the metals can be dissolved
without undergoinga chemical change.
Sulphur, iodine, phosphorus, etc., may
be dissolved, and after the evaporation
of the solvent, may be re-obtained with
all their original properties, but this is
Impossible with metals. When they enter
into combination with one another, by
| IuSIOu, tucy oIO CdAAc0 OttOyS, OACCPtuuS
when mercury is one of the combining
metals, in which case the resulting
compound is termed amalgam. In ouI
gold coin, there is a small portion oi
silver or copper. to harden the nobler
metal. Jewelry, including gold watch
cases, invariably contains alloy. When
"eighteen-carat gold'' is mentioned, OF
is stamped upon q watch-case, it init
| mates sthat-tweaty-four carats repre-.
senting pure gold-there are six parts
of alloy to eighteen of gold in the arti'
Gle.
The ductility of some metals is very
great. Gold, silver and platinum are
pre-eminently ductile, and are nearly
approached in this by copper and iron.
Zinc and aluminium can be drawn Out
into tolerably thin wire; but lead and
tin have SO little cohesion that they can.
not be drawn beyond a very limited de.
gree Of fncness. Doctor Wollaston,
the distinguished scientist, who first
made platinum useful for the arts, OBJ
tanned wires of platinum, gold and iron
of excessive tenuity, by first drawing
the metals into q fine wire which he
covered with silver. Then this dupli
Gated wire was drawn out into it,
furthest practicable extent, after which
the silver was dissolved by nitric aoid
1 q -