An Overview Of Gold And Its Properties
We’ve all heard of gold, but what exactly is it? According to goldprice.com, “The first reliable evidence found of when gold was discovered was in ancient Egypt around 3,000 B.C.” It played a very important role in their mythology and it was very valuable to the pharaohs and temple priests. They also used it in their currency when 1 gold piece was the same amount as 2 and a half pieces of silver. The ancient Greeks also used gold in their currency later on as a form of wealth. One common thing that most ancient civilizations had with gold was that it separated two different classes from each other. Such as emperors, priest, and the higher middle class, and those who had gold usually had power and wealth. On the periodic table the symbol for gold is Au and it’s atomic number is 79. The symbol Au comes from its old Latin name, aurum, this means “glow of sunshine” or “shining dawn.”
Gold is a very valuable metal because it is very rare and one of the most expensive metals after Rhodium and Platinum. It is rarely found in its pure form because of it’s properties. This is that they are very ductile and malleable. Ductile means that it can easily be made into thin wires and its malleability enables the gold to be hammered into sheets. An ounce of gold can be extended to a thread of 5 miles long. It is very good conductor which means that it’s enabling electrical currents to pass through. The chemical properties of Gold are not very reactive with other chemicals and does not dissolve in water. It’s mostly not that reactive with halogens such as chlorine and bromine. This property is a reason why it is used so much for things like coins, because it doesn’t corrode or tarnish very easily and neither does Jewellery or art work made of gold. Moreover, there is a limited amount of gold in the world. According to bebusinessed.com, “Currently only about 2,000 tons of gold are created every year, while 10,500 tons of steel are produced every hour in the US. One of the more obvious reasons that gold is very valuable is that it looks good. It’s unique coloring and reflectiveness adds to how desirable it is. Over time Egyptians have included gold in their tombs, throne rooms, jewelry and on top of their ancient pyramids. Currently, 75% of gold is used to make jewelry and the other 25% is used for coins, computers or technology, aerospace, dental, and medical.
Gold is great at conducting electricity, this is one of the reasons that it’s widely used in technology. It can transmit electrical currents without causing corrosion. It is mostly used in connecting strips, connecting wires, relay contacts and soldered joints. On average, a mobile phone may contain 50 milligrams of gold in it. With an estimated of 7 billion phones in the world, we can add up that 350 tonnes of gold is used in mobile phones. Gold is also used in the making of space shuttles for NASA. The material is used in the connector and conductor. According to STRATERRA, “Gold layered polyester film is applied in spacecraft helping with temperature stabilization and infrared radiation reflection.” It is also used in other technologies such as computers, it has all the requirements needed for a computer. It’s mainly found o
Gold has had a very big impact on different economies as the mining of gold in a country can lead it to wealth and economic growth. This is because it creates new employment and business opportunities for local people. In addition, gold mining also brings foreign investments, tax revenues to countries and foreign exchange. Another reason is that gold mines are usually found in remote areas with no access to clean water supplies, power supply and roads. Mining companies invest heavily in these things so that there is power, piped water, and roads for transportation. This will create important benefits for local communities and their economy.
Gold is not often found in its pure form because it is naturally too soft to work with. If it is, it’s usually very expensive, 24 karats of gold is pure gold. The amount of karats gold has is the unit used to define how pure the gold really is. Gold is of mixed with other metals or alloys such as copper and silver to make jewelry. Each karat suggests 1/24th of the whole. Gold that contains 18 carats is 75% gold and the other 25% is another metal or alloy. Another example is if you buy a ring that is 14k gold and if pure gold is 24k, you divide 14k by 24k which is 0.583 and that indicates that 58.3% of the ring is made out of gold. Although people think that it’s very good to have a 24k ring it also has negatives. 24k gold is more expensive, but is it really better? The lower karats a ring has the stronger it is and the more durable it is than purer gold. Lower karat gold tarnishes more easily then the higher karats and it is also less expensive but the higher karat gold is more valuable and appears to be more yellow.
