Chop sticks Ali or Stainlless?

[john.p.clegg]

Dear All

Totally un Lotus related but has been bugging me all night,picked up some metal chopsticks the other day and for the life of me I can't decide if they are polished aluminium or hollow stainless......they are not attracted to a magnet but that doesn't help........anyone know of a way to tell (apart from the expense of a mass spectrometer) ?

Thanks

John

Edit

They don't float and are too nice to destroy....

[rgh0]

http://www.geotechnical.net/scrap-metal ... tion.shtml

This is cheaper than a mass spectrometer but probably not what you looking for either.

If they are tapered I would bet aluminium as to hard to make a tapered tube of stainless

You could try some chemical reactivity tests - aluminium is fairly reactive to a range of common substances that stainless is not

You could also try a flexibility or cut or crush test and see if you can make the tube collapse - assuming you don't want to use them again if they do !

cheers
Rohan
cheers
Rohan

[Mazzini]

Koreans use metal chopsticks which I find much harder to use than wooden ones.

Recently in Korea I was faced with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvyunwtlvuc which I didn't even attempt to pick up (found the link on Youtube)

[billwill]

Archimedes solved this long ago?

Completely fill a tall bottle with water and stand in a dry tray.
Gently put chopstick into bottle so the water overflows
Pour water from tray into a measuring jug Now you see the volume of the chopstick.

Weigh chopstick on kitchen scales

Calculate density.

Look up density of aluminium & Stainless steel.

Decide...

[john.p.clegg]

Bill

Sounds good to me...but...will this work if the chopsticks are stainless and hollow??

John

P.S. sorry for calling you a numpty....

[billwill]

Bill

Sounds good to me...but...will this work if the chopsticks are stainless and hollow??

John

P.S. sorry for calling you a numpty....

I don't mind being chastised when I make silly observations..

There is a chance of course that the average density of a hollow stainless steel object just happens to be the same as the density of Aluminium or alloy, but hopefully there will be enough difference to make a decision.

I used those metal chopsticks for the first time last month when I had a Korean (?) meal on Charing Cross Road last month. I too was intrigued as to what they were made of.

I just did a quick google for metal chopstics and found some listed as Stainless Steel.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/19089191 ... =83&ff19=0



Those in the picture are a different shape/pattern than the ones I used in the resturant.


These ones look nice.



Now what can we use tapered stainless rods for on our Elans?

[billwill]

PS: If you don't have a measuring jug, I think you could weigh a glass empty and then with the overflow water in it and to get the weight of the overflow water by subtraction.

Without going back to check the physics I think the density is then the weight of the chopstick divided by the weight of the overflow water.

[john.p.clegg]

Your second picture looks just like those I have ,but without the patterned wraps (paper?) and on closer inspection there seem to be signs of a longitudinal seam....stainless?

I'll either use them on the Plus2 or keep them in stock for future use.

John

P.S. I'm going to plant one in the garden,winter should tell....

[billwill]

Your second picture looks just like those I have ,but without the patterned wraps (paper?) and on closer inspection there seem to be signs of a longitudinal seam....stainless?

I'll either use them on the Plus2 or keep them in stock for future use.

John

P.S. I'm going to plant one in the garden,winter should tell....

Careful, they might grow up to be Japanese Knotweed.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Working on the material density theory; which is a good one.

I would say that stainless items would most likely be hollow, otherwise they would be (too) heavy & expensive!
On the other hand Aluminium would most likely be solid to give them "a feel".

Is the outcome of this likely to be life changing

[john.p.clegg]

No, but I'm just working up to the winter rebuild,need to dial in the cams,rebuild the gearbox,fit some exhaust skids,diff ducts,calibrate the dipstick and polish the windscreen (hate winter morning drives to the East)...

John

[lotusfan]

A suggestion to differentiate between the two - heat to red heat with a blow torch, the aluminium will melt, the stainless will not.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Is that what you call the "5hit or bust" test?

[john.p.clegg]

Certainly not Non-Destructive testing..

John

[AHM]

Stainless will appear yellow next to aluminium.

To have a similar appearance the aluminium would need to be anodised. Anodise is not very electrically conductive... Stainless is.

They will have a completely different sound.

A suggestion to differentiate between the two - heat to red heat with a blow torch, the aluminium will melt, the stainless will not.

The stainless one will change colour dramalically long before the Aluminium melts.....Fool!