Question How can you tell it is Gadolinium? To me they look all alike. A scope is only relevant when the subjects are visually distinguisable. Lycaon (talk) 21:48, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Info It is labelled as Gadolinium and I have bought it as such from a reputable source. These elements may be similar, but they don't look exactly the same. Maybe you cannot tell for sure what it is, when you only see an image of them, but in my opinion this is not the point. It is important to know how an element looks like, even if there are others that look alike. Jurii (talk) 23:49, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Could you add some details about the size / weight of the sample in the file description along with information of the origin of your sample. Is this sample also embedded in acryllic glass? In en:gadolinium the element is described as "silvery white", which seems to fit well with, e.g.,
The image here (which is more detailed and of much better technical quality) has a more golden lustre. However, when Googling for images of gadolinium I also find other images of this element, which has this golden lustre, albeit the image here seems to be on the dark side concerning colors. --Slaunger (talk) 18:01, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I added the informations you requested. Now here, my image shows amorphous Gadolinium, whereas in the other image crystalline Gadolinium is shown. You can't tell that one of these forms is more natural than the other, they just look different. Jurii (talk) 16:10, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I'm not convinced. For organisms a scope can be valid when the organism is visually distinctive from other taxa. Here this metal can be anything. It is not a matter of believing, it is a matter of seeing the difference. A picture of a white powder, e.g. could be sugar, talc, or cocaine for that matter. Lycaon (talk) 09:00, 7 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
