Checking for Silicon in alloys

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi All;

Just wondering, is there any kind of chemical test for the presence
of silicon in these alloys? Sure would be nice to identify these
pieces before putting the torch to them.

David L. Huffman

2 
Just wondering, is there any kind of chemical test for the
presence of silicon in these alloys?  Sure would be nice to
identify these pieces before putting the torch to them. >David L.
Huffman

G’day. So far as I know there is no simple test for the presence
of silicon. The only methods I am aware of are completely out of
the question for the ordinary person. There are several methods
these days, but they all use extremely expensive machines, which
include instruments like Xray crystallography, mass spectrometers, UV
spectrometers, atomic absorption spectrometers, etc all of which are
well out of the price range of the average jeweller, and it simply
wouldn’t be worth the cost of having silicon alloys professionally
analyzed. Surely the suppliers should be able to tell one what they
sell?

Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua, Nelson NZ