Gold

Extracted Attributes

• Color

  Bright, slightly orange-yellow

• Rarity

  Relatively rare (1/30th as rare as platinum); abundance in Earth's crust is 0.004 ppm

• Density

  Dense (one of the densest metals)

• Softness

  Soft (one of the softest metals)

• Ductility

  Highly ductile (most ductile element)

• Reactivity

  Least reactive chemical element (second lowest after platinum), resistant to most acids, oxygen, and sulfur

• Conductivity

  Excellent conductor of heat and electricity

• Malleability

  Highly malleable (most malleable element; 1 ounce can be beaten to 187 square feet of gold leaf)

• Medical Uses

  Certain gold salts as anti-inflammatory agents, cancer treatment

• Atomic Number

  79

• Element Group

  Group 11 (Ib), Period 6, Transition Metal, Noble Metal

• Chemical Symbol

  Au

• Latin Name Origin

  Aurum (shining dawn)

• Natural Occurrence

  Free elemental (native state), nuggets, grains, rocks, veins, alluvial deposits

• Purity Measurement

  Carat (24-carat is pure gold)

• Chief Industrial Use

  Corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in computerized devices

• Other Industrial Uses

  Infrared shielding, colored glass production, gold leafing, tooth restoration

• Largest Producer (2023)

  China

• World Consumption (New Gold)

  Approximately 50% jewelry, 40% investments, 10% industry (alternative breakdown: 51% jewelry, 25% gold coins/bars, 15% central bank reserves, 7% electronics/industrial, 1% ETFs, 1% dental/medical)

• Global Above-Ground Reserves (2020)

  Approximately 201,296 tonnes (equivalent to a cube with 21.7-meter sides)

• Physical State (Standard Conditions)

  Solid

Timeline

• Gold was used to make jewelry since at least this time. (Source: LiveScience)

  4000 B.C.

• Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1930s

• The world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1971-08-15

• Global above-ground gold reserves were estimated at approximately 201,296 tonnes. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2020

• China was the world's largest gold producer. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2023

Gold

Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive. Gold is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid alone, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property long used to refine gold and confirm the presence of gold in metallic substances, giving rise to the term "acid test". Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold also dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, and as the gold acts simply as a solute, this is not a chemical reaction. A relatively rare element when compared to silver, though only 1/30th as rare as platinum, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other works of art throughout recorded history. In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy. Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971. In 2023, the world's largest gold producer was China, followed by Russia and Australia. As of 2020, a total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exist above ground. If all of this gold were put together into a cube shape, each of its sides would measure 21.7 meters (71 ft). The world's consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold's high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, as well as conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use). Gold is also used in infrared shielding, the production of colored glass, gold leafing, and tooth restoration. Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatory agents in medicine.

Web Search Results

• Gold - Wikipedia

  Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive "Reactivity (chemistry)") chemical elements, being the second-lowest in the reactivity series. It is solid under standard conditions. [...] A relatively rare element, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other works of art throughout recorded history. In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy. Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971. [...] On Earth, gold is found in ores in rock formed from the Precambrian time onward. It most often occurs as a native metal, typically in a metal solid solution with silver (i.e. as a gold/silver alloy). Such alloys usually have a silver content of 8–10%. Electrum is elemental gold with more than 20% silver, and is commonly known as white gold. Electrum's color runs from golden-silvery to silvery, dependent upon the silver content. The more silver, the lower the specific gravity.

• Gold | Facts, Properties, & Uses - Britannica

  gold (Au), chemical element, a dense lustrous yellow precious metal of Group 11 (Ib), Period 6, of the periodic table of the elements. Gold has several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. It is attractive in colour and brightness, durable to the point of virtual indestructibility, highly malleable, and usually found in nature in a comparatively pure form. The history of gold is unequaled by that of any other metal because of its perceived value from earliest [...] Gold is one of the noblest—that is, least chemically reactive—of the transition elements. It is not attacked by oxygen or sulfur, although it will react readily with halogens or with solutions containing or generating chlorine, such as aqua regia. It also will dissolve in cyanide solutions in the presence of air or hydrogen peroxide. Dissolution in cyanide solutions is attributable to the formation of the very stable dicyanoaurate ion, [Au(CN)2]−. [...] Gold is one of the densest of all metals. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity. It is also soft and the most malleable and ductile of the elements; an ounce (31.1 grams; gold is weighed in troy ounces) can be beaten out to 187 square feet (about 17 square metres) in extremely thin sheets called gold leaf. gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun

• Gold: Facts, history and uses of the most malleable chemical element

  Gold, the 79th element on the Periodic Table of the Elements, is one of the more recognizable of the bunch. It is malleable and shiny, making it a good metalworking material. Chemically speaking, gold is a transition metal. Transition metals are unique, because they can bond with other elements using not just their outermost shell of electrons (the negatively charged particles that whirl around the nucleus of an atom), but also the outermost two shells. This happens because the large number of [...] Gold represents a tiny fraction of the elements in the known universe. The reason for its rarity is owed to the incomprehensible amount of energy needed for its formation. Gold is formed in stars, but only in those that are exploding in giant supernovas, or incredibly dense ones that have come together in monstrously powerful collisions, according to the journal PNAS . [...] The element gold is a pirate's booty and an ingredient in microcircuits. It's been used to make jewelry since at least 4000 B.C. and to treat cancer only in recent decades. It's in the pot at the end of the rainbow and in the coating on astronaut visors. Gold is an element that bridges old and new — and myth and science — seamlessly. ### Properties of gold

• Gold properties and uses | Energy & Mining

  Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all the metals, and one of the softest and heaviest It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity It is resistant to attack by air, heat, moisture and most solvents Gold dissolves in aqueous mixtures containing halogens (such as chloride, bromide and iodide) as well as some oxidising mixtures such as alkaline cyanide solution and aqua regia (a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids) [...] Because of its rarity, durability, colour and chemical inertness, gold has been used throughout history for the payment of goods and services and is now the basis for international monetary exchange Global uses of gold include; jewellery (51%), gold coins and bars (25%), central bank reserves (15%), electronics and industrial (7%), global backed exchange traded funds (1%) and dental and medical (1%) (DIIS 2019 (external site)) [...] Gold can be alloyed with various metals to give unique properties such as red gold (Cu), green gold (Cu and Ag) and white gold (Ni, Zn or Pt metal). The most common naturally occurring alloy is electrum, which is pale yellow and contains >20% Ag. The gold content (by weight) of an alloy is described in carats; pure gold (24 carat) is used in the Australian Nugget coins; 18 carat gold is 18/24 pure gold; 6/24 is an alloy metal

• Gold - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table

  Johnny Ball. Johnny Ball The element gold. Gold is element 79 and its symbol is Au. Though the name is Anglo Saxon, gold originated from the Latin Aurum, or shining dawn, and previously from the Greek. It's abundance in the earth's crust is 0.004 ppm. 100% of gold found naturally is isotope Au-197. 28 other isotopes can be produced artificially and are all radioactive. Gold along with silver and copper, form a column in the periodic table. They are found naturally and were the first [...] A soft metal with a characteristic yellow colour. It is chemically unreactive, although it will dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids). Uses Most mined gold is stored as bullion. It is also, however, used extensively in jewellery, either in its pure form or as an alloy. The term ‘carat’ indicates the amount of gold present in an alloy. 24-carat is pure gold, but it is very soft. 18- and 9-carat gold alloys are commonly used because they are more durable. [...] Gold is one of the few elements to occur in a natural state. It is found in veins and alluvial deposits. About 1500 tonnes of gold are mined each year. About two-thirds of this comes from South Africa and most of the rest from Russia. Seawater contains about 4 grams of gold in 1,000,000 tonnes of water. Overall this is a huge amount of gold stored in the oceans but, because the concentration is so low, attempts to reclaim this gold have always failed.

• Instance Of

  Q17537576

• Inception Date

  1/1/2018

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in a pure form. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid alone, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property long used to refine gold and confirm the presence of gold in metallic substances, giving rise to the term 'acid test'. Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold also dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, and as the gold acts simply as a solute, this is not a chemical reaction. A relatively rare element, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy. Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971. In 2020, the world's largest gold producer was China, followed by Russia and Australia. A total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exists above ground, as of 2020. This is equal to a cube with each side measuring roughly 21.7 meters (71 ft). The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments and 10% in industry. Gold's high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, and conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use). Gold is also used in infrared shielding, production of colored glass, gold leafing, and tooth restoration. Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine.