Brass Microscope

Brass alloy question?

If you were to combine zinc and a copper penny to form the alloy brass and you then cut the penny in two, what would the cut edge look like under a powerful microscope? (Lab question for science, but I don’t really understand it??) Help?

I am going to waste some points and show you what is wrong with that question… not you, but the people that wrote the question. You could be the “smart~ass” in class and ask all these questions about THIS question.

“What % of zinc” was added?” (I need to know this to determine the type of brass)

“When was the penny made?” (here is a chart that shows that the % of copper changes a great deal over the years… looks like the current penny is already brass! http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/tsullivl/CommonCents/PennyComposition.htm)

“What type of saw was used?” (on the cut edge a saw is going to leave trace amounts of the material it was made of also.. so is it going to be “zinc, copper and steel”?

“What was the power of the microscope?” That determines what you see.

Just spread these questions and concerns among your class mates along with the reason and you will NEVER get to the answer, class will be over. Btw: these are legit questions I would need to answer.

See, there is not enough info in the way you put the question to get a correct answer.

E. LEITZ WETZLAR BRASS MICROSCOPE No.220802 Vintage $0.99

VINTAGE BRASS & IRON MICROSCOPE W/WOOD CASE- MAKER? $49.99

VINTAGE PORTABLE BRASS FIELD MICROSCOPE IN BOX $7.69

Rare Old WW II Spencer Army Brass Iron Field Microscope $89.85

An Antique Brass Field Microscope and Box c1900/20 $19.57

Antique brass boxed old tiny field or pocket microscope $32.34

GOOD EARLY BRASS MICROSCOPE – BAKER – LONDON – 1800s $118.59

Old Mint Bausch & Lomb Optical Microscope Brass Leitz $99.00

ANTIQUE BRASS SCIENTIFIC microscope LUDWIG MERKER WIEN $299.00

ANTIQUE BRASS SCIENTIFIC MICROSCOPE LUDWIG MERKER WIEN $2,995.00

Vintage brass microscope KALNEW TOKYO 50X-120X $299.00

Sources of Lead

A special focus on toys imported from China…

Over last few decades, lead poisoning has emerged as one of the major threats to environment and human health. There are many ways in which humans are exposed to lead: through deteriorating paint, household dust, bare soil, air, drinking water, food, ceramics, home remedies, hair dyes and other cosmetics. Much of this lead is of microscopic size, invisible to the naked eye. More often than not, children with elevated blood lead levels are exposed to lead in their own home. The major sources of lead poisoning are:

Drinking Water: More often, lead in drinking water comes from the water supply lines or a building’s own plumbing rather than from the water system resources. Plumbing materials containing lead may corrode and release lead over a period of time when they are in contact with water. Its quite likely for lead to be present in following cases:

If water supply pipes contains lead

If fixtures or fittings are made up of brass, bronze or other alloys

If lead solder was used on the pipes

If water is acidic in nature due to impurities.

Lead-contaminated drinking water is most often a problem in buildings that are either very old or very new. Older buildings have higher levels of lead in plumbing materials whereas newer systems leach lead more rapidly than old ones because fittings are in direct contact with the water.

Food: Lead in food usually comes from the container but it may come from water used to prepare the food or food that has been contaminated with lead dirt or dust and not washed. Lead cannot be seen on food. Containers with lead are usually pottery and ceramics with a lead glaze and lead crystal decanters or containers.

Residential Paint and Soil: Deteriorating lead-based paint, lead contaminated dust, and lead contaminated residential soils are some of the common sources of lead contamination and lead poisoning.

People living near areas where lead is processed and worked upon, can ingest lead through dust on their hands. Those living near highways are exposed to lead through automobile and truck exhaust. Even those in urban areas are not exempted! They are frequently exposed to lead paints, vessels and other leaded items.

Children under six are especially sensitive to lead poisoning because they play in lead-contaminated dirt or house dust then swallow the lead from dirty hands and faces with their food. Some children deliberately eat paint or dirt because they like the taste -a habit called pica.

Lead in Paint: Some products imported from China have been reported to have exceedingly high lead content. They mainly include children’s toys, kid’s metal jewelry etc. About 103,000 multicolored necklaces, bracelets, earrings and charms imported by Tween Brands Inc. of New Albany, Ohio, were reported to be affected.

Not just jewelry, toy drums coated with red paint were found to contain excessive levels of lead. About 4,500 of the Eli’s Small Drums and Liberty’s Large Drums were recalled. They were earlier sold in gift and collectible stores nationwide.

About the Author

This Article is written by Tarun Gupta, the author of TestCountry Health Information Resources, a longer version of this article is located at Sources of Lead, and resources from other home health and wellness testing sources are used such as Health Hazards Detection Kits.