The Periodic Table - Gold

Gold is a highly desired precious metal commonly used for making coins, jewellery, electronics and sometimes even food! Gold is one of the most desired items around the world, only carbon in the form of a diamond can equal its feverish desire, and even then diamonds are easily destroyed by heat and will soon be worthless due to the increasing availability of synthetic diamonds. Gold is so sought after because there is so little of it around. All the gold ever mined in the history of man would fit into a cube with sides of about 20 metres in length, this is quite astonishing considering the size of the earth. THE FACTS: Symbol - Au Atomic Number - 79 Atomic Mass - 196.966543 Mass Number - 197

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: Property: Boiling Point Melting Point State at Room Temperature Colour Texture Metal / Non Metal / Metalloid Electrical Conductivity Malleable / Ductile Result:
Gold has a boiling point of 2856C. Gold has a melting point of 1064.18C.

Gold is a Solid at room temperature. Gold has a bright yellow color and luster. Gold is smooth when refined, but when found raw it can feel quite bumpy. Gold is a metal.

Highly conductive, second to only copper and silver. Gold is very ductile and malleable.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES: Gold reacts with THE HISTORY OF GOLD: The person who discovered gold is unknown because it has been around for so long. Gold has been known since ancient times, as it had been mined before history was even recorded. Gold may have very well been the first metal used by humans and was valued for its beauty and its use in rituals.

Gold has been known about for so long that even Egyptian hieroglyphs from 2600 BC describe gold! Gold is also mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Unfortunately it is also not known which exact individual named gold, although we do know that the name gold comes from the old English word Geolo meaning yellow. The chemical symbol of Au comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum. USES: The reason why gold is so beautiful is because of all the metals known to man it is the only one whose colour and shine remains preserved throughout the entire time. A piece of gold that has been left on the ground for a million years will glimmer just as bright as it did 1 million years ago as long as you don't forget to dust it off. The reason gold is this way is because it is built into its very molecular structure, it doesn't tarnish and is highly corrosion resistant. These are just some of the many reasons why it is used so frequently in many of the fine pieces of jewellery you can acquire today. Unfortunately because of its severe ductility, it is often combined with other metals to increase its strength. Another common use of gold is in electrical components, wiring and circuitry. Gold is a magnificent conductor of electricity. It does not tarnish therefore making it the optimal substance used for electrical contact. Gold is so often used in electrical circuitry and devices, than an entire business has been created for the recovery and recycling of gold in unused electrical components. The reason why gold is so conductive is because it has more free electrons. Gold had been used as a form of coinage for many years, but due to many reasons was replaced by some form of 'convertible currency'. There were many reasons why gold was superseded as a form of currency, one of these included the decline of gold mining and gold reserves which resulted in a forever increasing gold price. Also due to gold's severe ductility, it was not hard enough to use on a day to day basis. The Australian dollar was previously made of gold but was replaced by a stronger and cheaper composition of 92% copper, 6% aluminium and 2% nickel. Although you may not know it, gold can be used in food as it is non-toxic. Gold is hammered into thin sheets usually making gold leaf, flake or dust. It is used in some gourmet food as a 'decorative' ingredient. Since gold is 'inert' to all body chemistry, it has no effect on taste and has no nutritional value thus it is used as only a decorative ingredient. Gold was often consumed in medieval times, as it showed their personal wealth, it was also believed that because of its rarity and value it had to be beneficial to one's health. Oddly enough in recent times it has been found that injecting gold into ones blood stream can ease the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis. THE OCCURRENCE OF GOLD: