Experiment description
In this experiment, we will observe the appearance of metals and non-metals before and after rubbing with sandpaper. Metals such as iron, copper, aluminium, and magnesium may look dull at first because dust or oxide layers are present on their surface, but after rubbing, the fresh metal surface becomes visible and the metals look brighter and shinier. Non-metals such as wood and stone may become slightly cleaner or smoother after rubbing, but they do not become shiny like metals. This shows that metals generally have lustre, while non-metals are usually dull and do not show metallic shine.
