Metals are placed on the left-hand side of the periodic table, and non-metals on the right….Physical properties.

You can identify an unknown substance by measuring its density and comparing your result to a list of known densities. Density = mass/volume. Assume that you have to identify an unknown metal. You can determine the mass of the metal on a scale.

Take your piece of metal and test its magnetization by sticking a magnet to it. If your metal sticks to the magnet, the metal could be cast iron or steel. If the metal does not stick to the magnet, your metal could be copper, brass, solver or aluminum.

Most Dense Metals In other words, their atoms are packed together more tightly in solid form than other metals.

In general, metals are denser than nonmetals. This is due to the tightly packed crystal lattice of the metallic structure. The larger the amounts of delocalized electrons, the stronger the metallic bonds are.

Osmium

Chromium: The Hardest Metal on Earth Chromium is the hardest metal known to man. While you may not have heard of chromium, more than likely you’ve heard of stainless steel. Chromium is the key ingredient in stainless steel, thus it is used in a variety of settings.

What is the highest quality steel? Type 440—a higher grade of cutlery steel, with more carbon, allowing for much better edge retention when properly heat-treated. It can be hardened to approximately Rockwell 58 hardness, making it one of the hardest stainless steels..

Carbon steel blades

China

Chinese Made Steel Is Unsafe In addition to costing you more money than you could have ever expected, cheap steel is very unsafe to use. Low-quality steel is not structurally sound and has an increased potential to collapse or break. For example, in 2015 Chinese steel companies added the element Boron to their steel.

Items created in China have acquired a negative reputation over the years, though. For some reason, most consumers equate Chinese-made goods with poor quality. Others even assume that these items pose health hazards. While some truth exists here, the fact is that there’s nothing wrong with China manufacturers.

2. American Steel Has Lower Oxidation Levels. In addition to its higher overall strength, American steel has lower oxidation levels than Chinese steel. This means that American steel is less likely to rust over time and it will degrade much more slowly than the competition.

Chinese-made goods mostly suck because many Chinese business people have lousy business values. When a Chinese manufacturer takes a contract, they often feel little or no actual obligation to manufacture according to spec, if cutting corners will make more money for them or their guanxi network of family and friends.