Basically, I'm making a trebuchet for school and need the most weight I can for the counterweight. I have about 11 cubic inches to put the weight in. I have a little lead. What other things can I put in the counterweight that are somewhat cheap? Also, I prefer a replacement for lead so anything close to it's weight would help.
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The densest material at standard conditions is Osmium. Don't expect to get it cheap though, it is more expensive than Gold.
Gold is denser than lead, by nearly twice as much. But of course, Gold is expensive.
Lead is commonly known as "the dense material", because it is cheap (compared to Gold), and because it is readily available, and easy to use when all you need is material for the sake of material. Unfortunately, it is poisonous. But, AS LONG AS you eliminate direct human-to-lead contact, you are completely safe from its poison.
Uranium is denser than lead, but not denser than gold. Because U238 is a less reactive isotope, you can get this depleted uranium that primarily consists of U238. In fact, it is a substance that is desired to be given another application. It just is unlikely that for a school project you can get it, because the sample may not be depleted enough. I.e. may still contain active U235, just less than natural uranium.
Tungsten is probably one material that is rather dense. Very comparable in density to Gold, but probably a lot less expensive. Perhaps you might want to do some research in the availability of tungsten.
Gold is denser than lead, by nearly twice as much. But of course, Gold is expensive.
Lead is commonly known as "the dense material", because it is cheap (compared to Gold), and because it is readily available, and easy to use when all you need is material for the sake of material. Unfortunately, it is poisonous. But, AS LONG AS you eliminate direct human-to-lead contact, you are completely safe from its poison.
Uranium is denser than lead, but not denser than gold. Because U238 is a less reactive isotope, you can get this depleted uranium that primarily consists of U238. In fact, it is a substance that is desired to be given another application. It just is unlikely that for a school project you can get it, because the sample may not be depleted enough. I.e. may still contain active U235, just less than natural uranium.
Tungsten is probably one material that is rather dense. Very comparable in density to Gold, but probably a lot less expensive. Perhaps you might want to do some research in the availability of tungsten.
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Gintable you don't know what you're doing. Osmium's price at 2010 is about $400 per Troy ounce (or about $13 per gram). Gold is 3.5 times that. He also asked for the "heaviest" element, not the densest.
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Lead is your best beat costwise. Most materials of that density or higher are very expensive. Anything metal is pretty useful, so you could try putting a bunch of coins, nails, or whatever other metal you have in a box. They should have about 80% of the density of lead.
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After lead everything gets either too expensive or too dangerous
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Uranium
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Scraps of iron. Sand.