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Showing results for tags 'plastic'.
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Hello, I acquired these pieces of "Burmese amber" of Myanmar on an auction site: shipping from China. They have irregular, natural-looking inclusions such as tiny Diptera flies, wasps etc., and feel very lightweight and relatively warm to the touch. However, that fact that they ship from China made me nervous so I did some tests, and I think I'm down to Amber vs. Polystyrene for the following reasons: 1. I did the saltwater test. These pieces float in saturated saltwater, which to my understanding narrows it down to amber, copal and polystyrene. 2. I did the acetone test. Placed a drop on each, let them dry, placed another drop and wiped. They all seemed impervious, no tackiness. Afaik this rules out copal. Unless it also rules out polystyrene? I read that acetone dissolves styrofoam which has polystyrene (https://www.google.com/amp/s/astrocampschool.org/recycling/amp/), but I'm not sure if that applies here as this isn't exactly styrofoam. So now I'm down to amber and polystyrene, which is a pretty specific comparison. I didn't do the hot needle+smell test as I don't want to potentially breathe in harmful material. If acetone doesn't rule out polystyrene does anyone know of a easy test to distinguish these two? Thanks!
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Not sure if it matters where it came from but just in case, was in a mix of QAL and Eagle Ford. Thought it was bone when I picked it up but it felt funny like plastic and weighed nothing. Figured it would float but didn't, thought surely it would melt with flame but didn't, and no smell. I've shown it with piece of worn bone for comparison, but I'm still perplexed. What else could it be? Last picture is the bone.
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- north texas
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Spotted this today from our favourite Scandinavian flat pack furniture store . This is for kids toys but maybe fantastic for a cheap show case for fossil or diorama. Have a look.